Grimm Slayer: The Frontier
by TheTragicNoir
Summary: On The Frontier, when goblins weren't enough of trouble, another threat known as The Grimm appeared by causing havoc on defenseless villages. The Goblin Slayer and his group will not only fight those dark creatures but also receive help from a group of four young girls with knowledge of the Grimm along the way. Get your dices ready, because they are for some hunting.
1. On the Way

**Hello everyone, I would like to tell you right now that this story takes on the GS universe, where everyone had names based on their classes. So for convenience, I will point out to who from the RWBY characters is to avoid confusion.**

**-Ruby is the eponymous Grimm Slayer (also Red or Crater Face)**

**-Weiss is the Elemental Fencer. (Sometimes Ice Queen, as usual)**

**-Blake is the Cat Ninja.**

**-Yang is the Furious Brawler.**

**-Jaune is the Shield Paladin (also called Squire or Vomit Boy)**

**-Nora is Hammer Valkyrie (Not so different, huh?)**

**-Pyrrha is Javelin Warrior**

**-Ren is Knife Ranger**

**For any other canon RWBY character that is not going to appear in the story, I'm still thinking for more classes/names. **

**I hope you enjoy this story, as it won't be long for the moment.**

* * *

"Goblin Slayer!" The Priestess shouted to her traveling companion as she was waiting on a wagon.

"Yes?" Goblin Slayer asked.

"Did you get everything? This trip will take us six hours to go back home."

"Yes."

"Did you clean the remainings on your armor?"

"Yes."

"Did you pay to the bartender for using his barrel of liquor for our mission?"

"Yes."

"Did you remind the others we will be waiting for them here?"

"No."

"Why!?" The Priestess yelled at the specialist.

"I was busy doing the errands for the trip."

"But I told you to do that too. Now we will have to wait for them a little more." The Priestess sighed on her absent-minded companion, but it wasn't that big deal at least. "Oh, they are here." She said as the rest of the party arrived.

"Sorry for the wait; we had to stop for breakfast." The Lizard Priest apologized as he was putting everyone's equipment at the wagon.

"Don't apologize, Scaly. You were the one who suggested that nice place, one more bite and I wouldn't be able to move another inch." The Dwarf Shaman said as he was rubbing his belly with satisfaction.

"All dwarves are always thinking about food, aren't they?" The High Elf Archer said sarcastically to her companion as she was boarding to the wagon.

"Don't act so high and mighty, Long-Ears. You were the one who ordered more entries than me."

"T-that's not true!" The Elf replied with a hesitant tone while her face was turning red.

"Ahahaha, see? Even elves can't hold themselves when it comes to food. What do you think, Beard-Cutter?" The Dwarf asked Goblin Slayer, which he replied with a simple nod. "Heh, he even agrees to that." He kept laughing at her, but she looked at the Priestess while ignoring the old guy.

"Come on, said something!" The Elf asked the Priestess.

"Well with all honesty…" The young girl said while looking away. "You sometimes do that."

"Seriously, you too? Why is everyone against me? I didn't overeat."

"There's nothing wrong on that." The Lizard interjected on the conversation. "As long it gives you enough energy for the whole day, it isn't a bad thing."

"Thank you, at least someone understands me." She said while looking at the rest of the group.

"Tomayto, Tomahto, you can't deny you enjoy food as much as everyone." The Dwarf walked to the rider's seat on the wagon, getting ready for the trip with his fire wine next to him.

"In any case, is everyone set up?"

"Yep, I got some supplies and wrote the report for the guild." The Priestess said while packing everything on her handbag.

"What about you, Orcbolg?" The Archer asked the armored guy.

"Everything is fine." He replied in his usual monotone voice.

"Alright, let's go." The dwarf said as he hit the road with the wagon. The Priestess, Goblin Slayer, and High Elf Archer were sitting on the cart while the Lizard Priest was next to the Dwarf Shaman while praying for a safe trip.

They began traveling as they were admiring the green fields on a windy day of spring. They were done with a request of helping by protecting a farm from mysterious black creatures that been roaming lately. The Goblin Slayer wasn't interested at first to come, but the Priestess convinced him to tag along as there were goblins around the same area as the farm. She sometimes wondered if he would ever be interested in fighting something other than goblins for once in his life.

"Hey, Mr. Lizard." The Priestess asked Lizard Priest. "Do you know what those creatures we fought yesterday were? I never saw them before."

"Those creatures are called Grimm, and those are from another continent." He informed the young girl as he pulled a notebook with drawings and notes about the Grimm. "They are made of negative emotions, at least that's what I been learning since they aren't common on this region."

"Creatures being created from negative emotions? That sounds scary." The Priestess commented as she was reading the notebook.

"There's not much explanation how exactly are they come from, but surely isn't much of a problem since they are usually weak." The High Elf Archer commented while adjusting her bow.

"Now, how they got in this side of the land? We don't know, but at least they aren't much of a problem now that we dealt with them." The Dwarf Shaman said while taking a sip of his wine. Goblin Slayer was staring at the notebook, as he got curious about the strange creatures.

"Is there something wrong?" The Priestess asked the armored guy.

"Nothing." He replied bluntly.

"Okay." She kept reading the book; it was curious that her companion, the ever-obsessed goblin-killing machine, was suddenly interested in those horrendous creatures. He would typically think about how to kill the next goblin, but not this time.

"Hey, you said that you want to study more of those Grimm, right?" The High Elf Archer asked the Lizard Priest.

"I would like to understand them a little bit more, why?"

"Because I think I saw some out there in the distance." The archer pointed out the direction as everyone, including the Goblin Slayer, focused their sight at the horizon.

From what they were seeing, a pack of Grimm was fighting against four female adventurers next to a different wagon. The Dwarf Shaman turned the group's transport to exactly where those fighting adventures were. As the Priestess and Lizard Priest were examining the adventurers' fighting styles, they noticed how fast and fierce those four girls were performing.

The first one was a girl with a red hood and scythe went at high speed as lightning. She jumped and slew some Grimm's heads by vertically spinning. As to how the fight was going, she had a big smile on her face, almost enjoying it too much.

The next one was one in elegant white clothes, who covered the hooded girl from a distance by shot fire and ice projectiles. She used a rapier as both long and close distance combat, piercing a line of Grimm on the ground. Her fighting style was as the most refined from the group, as similar to the nobles.

The third girl had cat ears and black outfit, she was wielding a katana and a tanto on each hand. She threw the shorter blade at one of the Grimm's head and pulling it back with a ribbon while cutting it into pieces. She vanished in a flash and appeared behind some of the creatures to backstab them.

The final member of the group looked like the strongest due to her fists and kicks were enough to send Grimm flying. She had blond hair, bright a gold and her ruthless fighting style were enough against everything that was in front of her. Each punch she landed, caused the Grimm to lose body parts.

Their movements were synchronized to the point that they tossed the creatures at each other to finish them off, one by one.

"Man, they got the nails for it." The Dwarf Shaman said with admiration about that group of girls.

"I never saw such close combat techniques; they looked well-trained." The Lizard Priest commented as he got his finger under his chin.

"They don't need much of our help; I guess we can continue on our way." The High Elf Archer said only to get the Goblin Slayer to shake his head.

"Hold on." He spoke with his calm voice.

"Is there something wrong?" The Priestess asked her companion.

"Look at their wagon." He pointed out with his finger; everyone did as what he said. They noticed the girls' method of transportation got one destroyed wheel. It was clear that they weren't fighting for recreation. Even though the group of female adventurers was doing pretty okay, they had no way to go to the nearest town without someone's help.

"Keen eye, Beard-Cutter." The Dwarf complemented to the armored guy's attention of detail.

"Well, let's wait for them at the moment. I'm starting to enjoy the show." The Archer said while looking meticulously at how the girls where dispatching of those creatures.

As heads were rolling, the girls started to make one last move for the remaining Grimm. The hooded girl told the other to go into position. They spread over, and the catgirl threw her shorter blade at the blond fighter, she caught with one hand. The elegant girl stretched the ribbon long enough, ready for the hooded girl to be in front of it. "Alright, ready, GO!" She shouted as the girl in white released the ribbon, sending her flying while spinning at a ferocious speed.

In one single send, she cut all the Grimm in half, making them vanish into a black mist.

"Hooray, good job team!" She started to do high-fives to the blond fighter and the cat girl, except for the sophisticated one who left her hanging. "Come one, don't leave me like this."

"Sorry, but this is your fault for attracting them." She replied coldly.

"Awww, but we did great, isn't that enough?"

"No." She gave the cold shoulder to the hooded girl.

"It doesn't matter; we need some way to reunite with the others." The cat girl commented as she grabbed a replacement while from the transport. The blond girl lifted the wagon to change the wheel without much problem. Even if it looked good as new, their horses ran away, leaving no way to pull the cart.

"So, are we going to do some smoke signals or something?"

"That won't be necessary." The friendly Lizard replied to the blond fighter as they were approaching the group. "Needing some help?"

"Thank goodness. I was afraid that we wouldn't see any huntsmen around."

"Huntsmen? We are not huntsmen. We are adventurers." The Priestess replied with confusion.

"Adventurers? I don't understand who you are referring to. We are huntresses." The hooded girl was acting the same way.

"Huntsmen, Adventurers, aren't they the same?" The Goblin Slayer pointed it out, as everyone looked at him as if they were surprised by his words.

"Quite insightful of you, Sir Goblin Slayer." The Lizard Priest commented. "They are indeed the same."

"How can you be so sure of that?" The High Elf Archer asked.

"I remember reading that on some documents, but it is usually referred on a different place. I don't remember the name of that land."

"You say, my reptilian friend, they are not from here. I already suspected of it." The Dwarf Shaman said while closing one eye and scratching his beard.

"Oh no, we are not from here. We have been traveling from the continent of Remnant." The cat girl informed about her group. They were far from home.

"Remnant? Now that makes sense." The Dwarf commented.

"Do you know that place?" The Priestess asked.

"Sure I do, I been there years ago. The drinks aren't great, but the food was nothing of this world."

"Alright, I guess we got enough of cultural exchange, but aren't we forgetting about our problem?" The elegant girl said in desperation.

"My apologies, let us help you with it." The Lizard Priest asked the Goblin Slayer to tie both wagons with a rope. The armored guy took the rope and started to make a node, strong enough to drag both means of transport without a problem.

"Well, would you like to present yourselves who you are?" The High Elf Archer asked the group of girls.

"Sure thing." The hooded girl said with youthful radiance, but she let the sophisticated girl go first.

"Hello, I am the Elemental Fencer." She said while standing straight, a typical gesture of nobles.

"I'm the Cat Ninja, nice to meet you."

"Hey, I'm the Ferocious Brawler!" The blond girl greeted with a smile.

"And I'm the leader of this party, the Grimm Slayer!" She said it proudly, as the other group looked at her with by tilting their heads. They stared at her and Goblin Slayer in rapid succession. They were wondering if they were distant relatives or something.

"What?" The armored guy asked his traveling party while still attaching both wagons.

"Nothing…So, you are the Grimm Slayer, huh?" The Priestess asked the hooded girl.

"We also call her Baby Sister."

"Or Little Red."

"Or Dolt." The Brawler, Ninja, and Fencer said in that order about the many ways they call her party leader.

"Oh please, don't call me like that! I'm 15 already!"

"Don't feel embarrassed, no matter how old you are, you are always my little sis," Brawler said as she was patting Red's, much to her disconcertment.

"It is done." The Goblin Slayer said to everyone as he returned to his seat.

"Alright, don't worry; we will take you to our town." The Priestess said to the huntresses.

"I appreciate the help, now if you excuse me," Fencer said as she went back to her wagon. The rest of the team followed her, but Red sat on the rider's seat instead.

With everything wrapped up, they departed from the fields and returned to the road. It was entirely a surprise for both parties to cross paths. While the huntresses were curious about this new land, the adventurers couldn't stop thinking about those Grimm Creatures. Whatever is the case, this is just the beginning of their latest adventure.

* * *

** Now to make things clear, Remnant is a continent instead of a planet in this universe. So you can at least expect both familiar and new things from both series.**

**-There's no Dust or any material to create modern fire weapons, the Kingdom of Atlas is advanced enough to create more primitive ones like muskets, flintlock pistols, or cannons, but nothing better than that.**

**-The Faunus and Padfoots are the same, but I will keep calling them Faunus just for the sake of familiarity.**

**-The Continent of Remnant still have the same four kingdoms and environments, just they are not as far from each other.**


	2. On the Way II

**Hello everyone, I want to say thank you that you welcomed this story pretty quickly. I wasn't sure if it would get attention on the first place, but I can't complain since I'm enjoying this.**

**Comments:**

**GXY-2013: With all honesty, I don't like Isekai genre, it becomes way overused on so many stories. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't. Also, since this is the GS Universe, there is no Aura. However, semblances are still present in the form of abilities from the character's class, but slightly altered to accommodate the story.**

* * *

"So, what brought all of you to the Frontier?" The Priestess asked the huntresses as they were sitting on the back wagon.

"It is a long story, but we and some other huntsmen parties got assigned to exterminate Grimm that been appearing outside of Remnant." The Ninja explained briefly since there's a lot more to cover for the adventurers.

"We were starting to suspect that Grimm appearing on this side wasn't nothing normal. We usually don't need to kill them or else." The Archer commented.

"And that's not all. Since most of huntsm…I mean, the adventurers on the Frontier don't know how to deal with the Grimm, our Academy asked us to go here and bring some assistance. It is already bad enough for us back home." The Brawler said while lying on the wagon and watching at the clouds.

"Academy?" The Goblin Slayer asked with curiosity underneath his emotionless voice.

"It is just a fancier way to refer a Guild; someone thought it might sound intellectual," Fencer commented as she was polishing her nails.

"I wouldn't say that they weren't much of a problem. We defeated some yesterday close to a farm. They looked just the same as the ones you fought moments ago." The Dwarf commented while still taking more sips of his fire wine.

"You mean the Beowolves? Those were nothing; in fact, they were the weakest type of Grimm you could ever encounter." The Grimm Slayer said nonchalantly.

"The weakest? You mean, are there more of them?" The Priestess asked worryingly.

"Yep, a lot and bigger." The hooded girl said as it was nothing new. The group of adventurers started to look concerned about that critical piece of information. Beowolves shouldn't be much of an obstacle, but discovering there are that they still don't know, it could be troublesome for the moment.

"Are the Grimm smart?" The Goblin Slayer asked the huntresses.

"Why so curious about those creatures so suddenly, Orcbolg?" The Archer asked.

"It is a good question." The Ninja interjected. "Grimm can get smarter with age. The older they are, the wiser and dangerous they become." The cat girl's comment only brought more uncertainty for everyone.

"Why are you so eager to learn about the topic of Grimm?" The Priestess asked her companion.

"If you think about, those aren't much different from goblins." The armored guy said without much detail. That left his party wondering the same.

"Well, I couldn't tell much since we don't have goblins in Remnant."

"Wait, seriously?" The Elf asked Grimm Slayer.

"Yeah, we only know about them through loose documents and stuff. We never fought one." Brawler commented. The adventurers weren't sure if to be grateful or not about the huntresses of being oblivious from the goblin's atrocious acts.

"Well, there's always a first time, I guess." The Priestess said while remembering her first-hand experience with goblins. She wasn't happy but no longer scared with the Goblin Slayer sitting next to her, bring a sense of security from there onwards.

"As far I know, I'm glad that your presence gave us resourceful information about the Grimm." The Lizard Priest said while updating his notebook about Grimm.

"I suppose." The Fencer said with a grimace. "We will see how things go once we reunite with the others."

"Reuniting with who exactly?" The Dwarf asked.

"Another huntsmen party that are our friends. We got separated because SOMEONE forgot to wake us early in the morning." The Fencer said as she slowly focused her eyes on the hooded girl. The Grimm Slayer looked away while whistling, or at least trying to.

"I hope you reunite with them; we still have some hours away before arriving." The Priestess said to the group of huntresses; they nodded with smiles. Everyone made themselves comfy for the rest of the trip; it was odd having more people accompanying the adventurers. Nonetheless, it was a breath of fresh air meeting foreigners that were equally powerful and knowledgeable as them.

* * *

"So, when I pulled out with my Spear of Grace while one ogre got me cornered, I used my spell Slow on that brute before he could cast any of his magic. In the split of a second, WHOOOOOooosh! I pierced his ugly forehead, killing it instantly." The Spearman was telling one of his stories to the Guild Girl, trying to impress her once again. "After that, I retrieved the Chalice of Virtue to return it to the King. Don't you think was an interesting quest?"

"I'm sure you did great; you must be exhausted for that." The Guild Girl said while trying to maintain her professional smile in front of the talkative man.

"Me? Exhausted? Nothing can stop me when you have this kind of strength." The Spearman said while flexing his arm, pretty much showing his bicep.

Meanwhile on the tables next to the Guild's desks, a group of four young adventurers was looking at how the Spearman was acting. They weren't impressed on the slightest.

"What a jock." A girl carrying a hammer commented. "Can I break his leg?"

"Valkyrie, no. We already talked about breaking people's legs. I do not want another incident like that time when you did that with Mace Knight back at home." A guy with blond hair and a shield on his back tried to reason with the crazy-looking companion, without results.

"Don't be a coward; you know Mace Knight and his party caused you a lot of trouble. What is the difference if I do the same with him?"

"Paladin is right; you can't do with every person you dislike, especially when we are not from here." Another girl with red hair and wearing a golden armor talked to Valkyrie; she wasn't complying that easily.

"Oh, come on. Ranger, please, tell them that it is alright to break his leg if it appears like an 'accident' for everyone." She talked to a guy in green clothes and a belt full of belts.

"I would like to avoid trouble, please." The Ranger had his head against the table, trying to nap.

"You guys are no fun." The hammer-wielding girl crossed her arms and pouted.

"Hey, Warrior. Do you have any idea when the others are going to arrive?" The Ranger asked the redhead.

"I'm not sure, but I left them a note beforehand. I hope they get here sooner." She said while touching her chin. Everyone on the table gave a big sigh at the same time.

Across the room, on a corner, there was a Witch with an attractive figure sitting while crossing her legs and smoking with a pipe. She was observing that group and the way they interacted. It brought a smile on her face while thinking of how funny they acted. "Such interesting group… of young adventurers." She spoke with a calm and soft voice.

After an hour of the general quiet environment, the main door opened slowly by showing an adventure with a leather armor with a big group behind him.

"Welcome back, Goblin Slayer!" The Guild Girl greeted with all her energy as he saw the armored guy stepping inside the place. He and the Priestess walked to the desk while the rest of the group scattered around.

"Hey, there they are!" The hooded girl said with an energetic tone to her party while she pointed at another group already waiting on the on a table.

"Heyoooo!" Valkyrie greeted them back, as the rest stood up to go with them. It was evident they knew each other.

"What took you so long?" Paladin asked the hooded girl.

"We got some inconveniences along the road, but this guy's party helped us out with it." She said while pointed at the Goblin Slayer for them. The group looked at him with curiosity, as he looked as someone odd.

"Well, we are glad you finally arrived. Now we can start working." Warrior said while giving them an envelope. Fencer took it and saved it inside her handbag.

"Can we stop for a blacksmith or something? My gauntlets are in bad shape after we fought some Grimm on the road." Brawler said while examining her weapon.

"Yeah, I think that won't be possible," Ranger commented while scratching his head.

"What do you mean by that?" Ninja asked.

"Well… How do I put this?" Paladin started to drag with his words, as he was pretty vague.

"We are broke," Valkyrie said it bluntly.

"What?" Fencer replied with an annoyed tone.

"It seems that Lien is not accepted on the Frontier." Warrior said with regret. The Grimm Slayer's group went silent for a whole minute, just noticing the kind of scenario they were at the moment.

"WHAAAAAAAAAT?" The huntresses yelled in unison, attracting too much attention around the Guild. Every single adventurer looked at them with strange faces.

"Hey, keep it down." Paladin tried to calm the girls, but they looked distressed for it.

"So, how exactly are we going to do? Nobody told us about that!" Fencer's patience was running low, just like their pockets.

"Well, we could just ask for a job or something in this place." Warrior said while looking at the quest-board.

"Oh, I wonder if they have something good, like hunting big animals or looking for treasures!" Brawler and Valkyrie ran towards the board to look at the available mission. There were the usual tasks from escorting merchandise for night watch on a local farm.

"Hey, what about those?" Grimm Slayer took a paper with the request of hunting two Legendary Beasts known as 'The Boar of Daruma' and 'The Bull of Terema.' Both did worth 30 golden coins each. The huntsmen tried to calculate how much it was in Lien. Ranger, Fencer, and Warrior were doing the conversion on their minds while Valkyrie was counting with her fingers.

"It would be, 300 Lien each one. I think that should be enough for us." The Warrior commented, which it brought relief to everyone. The hooded girl took the paper and showed it to the receptionist.

"Good Afternoon, what can I do for you?" She greeted with a bright attitude.

"We would like to take those requests." Grimm Slayer said while pointing to everyone.

"Alright, I would like to see your tags." Guild Girl asked both huntsmen parties. All eight of them showed bright red tags.

"Huh? They are ruby?" The Priestess commented as she and Goblin Slayer saw their tags, they were Rank Five, also known as Rank Ruby among the adventurers.

"This is weird…" The receptionist commented as she was looking at their tag with extreme detail.

"Is something wrong?" Paladin asked.

"I regret to inform you that we can't allow you to take those requests." Guild Girl said with sad eyes. The huntsmen were in shock of hearing that.

"Why not!?" Grimm Slayer asked while laying both hands on the desk.

"You are from the continent of Remnant, correct? The problem is that adventurers and huntsmen operate with two different bureaucratic systems, which wouldn't allow you to accept requests from the other." The receptionist explained in brief detail, which made the huntsmen both confused and distressed.

"Isn't another way to accept them?" Warrior asked.

"Well, there is one. You can accept under two conditions. The first is that all of you must take temporary tags while you are staying here."

"That doesn't sound so bad." Grimm Salyer commented.

"But you will get demoted two ranks below, which you become sapphire."

"Okay, now that is ridiculous." Fencer crossed her arms due to the situation.

"And the second one is that you must take low-tier requests." Guild Girl was done explaining while showing more paper on the desk. "Those are the requests we are allowed to give you." The huntsmen started to look at the tasks; those were from the very bottom. The requests included cleaning infestations of rats, collecting samples of plants, and exterminating goblins.

They weren't happy with any of that.

"Now this is stupid." Brawler protested as she slammed her hand against the desk.

"I wish I could do something for you, but I'm just following the rules." Guild Girl tried to apologize by vowing her head.

"I guess there's no point complaining." The hooded girl tried to calm her older sister; she complied quickly with a sigh.

"Although, if you want an easier time, you could ask a more experienced adventurer to help with some of the tasks and familiarize the region." The receptionist tried to give extra information, hoping they wouldn't feel depressed for their current predicament.

"Asking someone? Uhhhh…" Grimm Slayer looked at her surroundings, there were plenty of adventurers in the building, but none of them looked on the mood to babysit them. OF course, as she focused her sight at the desk, she noticed the armored guy being next to her while looking at the papers. "Hey, Goblin Slayer."

"Yes?" He replied.

"Would you like to help us?" The hooded girl asked.

"Are there goblins involved?"

"Uhhhh, probably?" She was getting nervous about his response.

"Okay."

"Really? Thank you so much!" Grimm Slayer thanked at the emotionless man. They took the goblin extermination request to sign in. The Grimm Slayer, Fencer, Ninja, Brawler and Goblin Slayer put their names on the document.

"I'll go with you." Priestess also joined the party as well; every group needed a healer after all.

"I'm so glad you are helping them, Goblin Slayer." The receptionist said with joy on her face as the armored guy, and the rest of the group walked towards the door.

"Hey wait a moment!" Paladin stopped the group before they could leave the place. "What about us?"

"Sorry, but the limit is six members per party. You could ask someone else to make the other requests." The receptionist said to Paladin, which he wasn't much happy about it.

"But who would be accepting us?"

"That would be me." The Spearman spoke as he approached the desk. He wrapped his arm around Paladin's shoulder while giving a smile at the receptionist.

"What are you doing?" Paladin whispered as the adventurer.

"Play along." He replied with the same volume of voice.

"Oh, so you want to take charge of them?" Guild Girl asked.

"Well, what can I say? They reminded me of when I was young. I never had someone who could guide me on those dangerous places. I would like them to be at my party and show the region since they are not from around here." Spearman said with confidence, making use of his winning smile.

"Are you sure to allow them to join you?"

"We have always been a party of two, so having more people should be enough for a change of pace. Wouldn't you agree?" Spearman was squeezing Paladin's shoulder, expecting for a quick response.

"Y-Yeah! We are glad of having an experienced adventurer with us. Hehehe." The guy with the shield said with a nervous laugh.

"Thank you so much for helping them." Guild Girl replied with joy that things were solved pretty quickly.

"Sure, I'm always glad to help anyone." He said loud and clear, hoping that impressed to the receptionist. It went all according to plan, or so he thought.

"That settles it. See you later guys!" Grimm Slayer said goodbye to her friends; they replied the same way. "So, what now?" The hooded girl asked Goblin Slayer.

"We should prepare." He replied. "We are going to need positions, and some equipment."

"But we don't have money, you dolt." Fencer rebuked at the armored guy.

"Doesn't matter. I will pay for it."

"Are you sure? We don't want you to spend too much on us." The Faunus girl wasn't sure of his offer.

"Don't worry; he likes to leave everything ready before we start a request. Just go along with him." The Priestess tried to assure the huntresses from his companion's odd way of thinking. Despite looking cold and distant, they sensed him something different underneath all that armor.

As they were heading to the blacksmith, the Grimm Slayer started to wonder if why he would accept them so quickly. One could say was a simple fact that as long goblins are involved, he would never refuse them. However, the hooded girl thought there was more than that, as he had something that wouldn't let something go.

Whichever the case was, the huntresses were getting ready for their first mission in the Frontier.


	3. Hunting the Undesired

**This is a long chapter, everyone. I hope you like it.**

* * *

"So, where are the goblins exactly?" Grimm Slayer asked the experienced adventurer.

"They like to hide in caves, abandoned structures or temples, or they create campsites on the woods." Goblin Slayer said while walking ahead of the party.

"They sure sound like primitive cowards for me." The Furious Brawler said while adjusting her gauntlets.

"Underestimate them, they are cowards, but they are smart." Goblin Slayer expressed more awareness of the party. It was worth nothing since he is pretty much teaching the huntresses about those foul creatures.

"What makes them so dangerous? If they are low-tier monsters, then they shouldn't be much of a problem." The Elemental Fencer commented.

"That is what the last party I joined said." The Priestess spoke with a somewhat remorseful tone. The party noted how she wasn't comfortable with the topic.

"Oh, huh, sorry if I said something harmful." The elegant girl apologized.

"It's alright; it is normal to think that at first." The young healer said as she never got too far from the armored guy.

"Hey, do you think those two are a thing?" Brawler whispered at the Ninja's ear.

"Don't know, but it seems like it." She replied as they walked from behind.

The party kept walking at a point when it was becoming dusk. The walk was long enough that they didn't notice it. "This should be fine." The Goblin Slayer was the first to stop.

"For what?" Fencer asked.

"For waiting."

"Aren't we supposed to exterminate goblins?" The hooded girl asked the specialist.

"We are, but it's better to wait for them until they come out at night." He said while using a rock as a seat. The rest of the group did the same on getting comfy and putting their bags on the ground. The Goblin Slayer pulled out an oil lantern and left it on the center for the group.

The huntresses started to mind their own business: Cat Ninja used a whetstone to sharpen both of her blades and to adjust her ribbons. The Furious Brawler did her fighting stance and began practicing shadows. Elemental Fencer was looking at some of her notes and reciting some spells. Last but not least, Grimm Slayer pulled her scythe and held it on a reverse position. That brought the Priestess' attention.

"Hey, what are you doing?" She asked the hooded girl.

"Practicing."

"With what exactly?"

"My aim." Grimm Slayer said while grabbing her weapon in a manner that no sane person would do.

"Not to be disrespectful, but I don't think that's how you are supposed to hold it."

"What? Oh, that's right; you don't have those kinds of weapons, right?"

"What kind of weapon?"

"Just watch this." Grimm Slayer said to the Priestess, making pay attention to her scythe. On the weapons opposite end where the handle was, she aimed at an apple that was still hanging on a tree. She started to make weird noises on it, which not only the Priestess but also Goblin Slayer found odd.

She was slowly but surely got on the center of her eye, looking precisely at what she wanted. One a simple click, a loud noise came from her weapon along with small traces of smoke. The apple exploded out of the distance without much explanation. The adventurers were surprised, although with Goblin Slayer was hard to tell if he was.

"How did you do that!?" The Priestess asked with shock.

"This is a gun." Grimm Slayer replied.

"A gun?" Goblin Slayer asked too.

"The latest scream of innovation in Remnant. Those muskets are from the Kingdom of Atlas; it comes with various types, which makes me fall in love with how reliable they are." The hooded girl started to get overly excited about talking about weapons, something that not even Goblin Slayer would act in such a manner.

"I don't like it."

"What?" Grimm Slayer was confused about the armored guy's statement.

"I don't like it. Too much noise and slow. It can alert goblins easily."

"What are you talking about? This weapon is the most important tool to kill a lot of things."

"But not suited to kill goblins." He replied bluntly. There was no reason to keep discussing any further for the narrow-minded adventurer.

As the Priestess was looking at the huntresses doing their stuff, she started to remember about their tags back at the Guild. All of them were ruby-ranked, which makes even more curious as she and Grimm Slayer have the same age. "Hey, Grimm Slayer?" She asked.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering, how did you get that name? If all huntsmen mostly kill Grimm equally."

"That is a reason." The Brawler joined the conversation. "My little sister was able to kill a Nevermore by herself during our first mission."

"A Nevermore?" The Priestess asked.

"A giant bird-like Grimm, but if I'm honest, I wouldn't say that I kill it alone since you helped me out." The Grimm Slayer said nonchalantly.

"But you were the one who came up with the planning and the finishing blow." Ninja commented off-handedly.

"I'm more surprised that someone like her could be this good in the first place, not that I dislike it, but it still baffles me up to this day," Fencer commented about her companion as well.

"You can see my baby sister is no slouch when it comes to Grimm. That makes me so proud!" Brawler got her arm around Grimm Slayer's neck, asphyxiating her with a hug. Everyone laughed about the sweet moment they had. The Priestess was happy that they were enjoying each other's company. One can say she would like to bring the rest of her party someday.

At night, the Grimm Slayer stared at the sky with curiosity. "This is odd." She commented.

"Odd about what?" The Priestess asked.

"The moons, we don't have them in Remnant."

"Really?"

"We do have only one, but half of it was shatter."

"How that happened?" Priestess' curiosity was endless, as new details kept coming up.

"We don't know; since it's always been like that for who knows how long." Brawler said as she was looking at the sky too. The Priestess was curious about their home; she thought that it must feel difficult to be in a different place, far from home. They did nothing but gazing at the moons.

"It is time." Goblin Slayer broke his silence. Everyone took their belongings as he shut the oil lamp and put it back on his bag. The huntresses got their weapons at hand and some potions at hand. The armored guy pulled a basic bow and arrow while holding it with his right hand.

"What do we do now?" Fencer asked.

"We track them down." Goblin Slayer replied.

"And?"

"We kill them."

"That's it? No plan of attack? Or back up plan? Anything at all?" The sophisticated girl couldn't understand that someone would act recklessly.

"That's it."

"Gosh, you are worse than her." Fencer was astonished.

"That doesn't sound like a bad plan. They are just goblins. How bad this can be?" Brawler's comment made the Priestess worried, being overconfident was never a good thing for anyone.

They began tracking down those creatures. The armored guy looked at the ground to see where they're at. There were small footprints, saliva, blood, and some pieces of clothing were scatter on their way. He pulled a long rope and extended it by attaching it to some trees.

The huntresses were curious about what he was doing correctly. He broke some tree branches and put them on the ground, hiding the rope underneath the leaves. Goblin Slayer surely didn't waste time despite the party were waiting for him a little longer than expected.

"What are you doing?" The hooded girl asked Goblin Slayer.

"Preparing."

"For what?" As Cat Ninja asked, they started something approaching towards them. Goblin Slayer gave hand signals to hide on the bushes. They obeyed his command, scattering enough to make themselves invisible among nature. Goblin Slayer got the Priestess and Elemental Fencer next to him.

"Grab it." The armored guy handed one end of the rope to both female companions. "Wait for my word."

"Okay?" Fencer couldn't understand what was going on, but he sounded pretty sure of what he was doing. It was something odd to see him like this for the Fencer.

As they were quiet for a whole minute, they started to see what was approaching finally. A pack of Goblin Riders was coming. Those repugnant creatures were using wolves as mounting animals. They were holding small swords and knives with one hand. From what the party could see, there were only three goblins on the pack.

"Pull it." He gave the signal to the Fencer and Priestess; they did exactly what he told to. The very second when the goblins were on their range, the rope emerged from the leaves at the exact height to the creatures. The goblins not only hit the string and losing their mounts, but also got impaled with several needles on their necks. Goblin Slayer jumped out of the bushes with his bow in hand to shot them at their heads. Every single arrow he shot, he always landed on their grotesque faces without hesitation.

"Whoa, what a savage." Brawler was impressed with the armored guy's tactic.

"One, two, three." Goblin Slayer started to count the kills of his prey.

"So those are goblins, huh? They look pretty short." Grimm Slayer remarked of the creatures' appearance.

"You did have a plan after all. Why you didn't tell me of that beforehand?" Fencer asked Goblin Slayer.

"I didn't want to say in case of goblins were spying us." He commented as he retrieved the arrows from those dead goblins.

"Okay, you are acting paranoiac." The sophisticated girl said while a disgusted expression on her face. She usually wouldn't have to worry while killing Grimm as those disappeared after being slain. Goblins were a different matter.

With a knife on hand, the armored guy started to open goblins' chests, splattering around himself with each slice. Everyone, except the Priestess, looked with horror as for how he began to cut the goblins' corpses into smaller pieces, creating a massive pond of blood around them. Goblin Slayer pulled a piece of cleaned clothe and absorbed the blood with it.

"What are you doing!?" Fencer asked in shock and repulse as the armored guy began to apply the blood over his armor.

"I'm covering my scent." He said without saying anything else.

"Is that necessary?" Brawler said with the same reaction as Fencer.

"Goblins can smell. This should help us to blend easily." He was done applying the blood to himself. "Who is going first?" He asked the group.

"I'll go." Grimm Slayer spoke, much to her party's surprise.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to get covered in blood." Brawler objected.

"It's okay if this can hide us, then I would try it." The hooded girl tried to assure her older sister.

"Okay. Could you help me with this?" Goblin Slayer gave the blood-soaked piece of cloth to the Priestess to apply at the Grimm Slayer instead. He tried to make another one so he could do it with someone else in the meantime.

"It will be alright; I can do this." Grimm Slayer breathed in and out, trying to gain enough strength to tolerate while the Priestess was putting blood around her. "Eeeck! Eww, eww, eww, goblin's blood!" She started to feel uncomfortable in no time.

"Please, don't move." The Priestess was covering her in blood. Neither side was happy with that.

"Who's next?" Goblin Slayer asked the huntresses.

"Let's get over with." Brawler stepped towards the armored guy. "Touch my hair with that, and I will break your helmet alongside your face." The blond girl warned Goblin Slayer. He didn't complain as long he would do it carefully.

"Tell me the smell isn't permanent." The Cat Ninja was the next after the Priestess was done with Grimm Slayer.

"It is not, but I would suggest cleaning your clothes anyways." She replied with a dead look on her face, knowing precisely that wasn't the best experience either.

"You're next," Goblin Slayer said to the Fencer, she was crossing her arms while backing off.

"Are you a madman? I refuse it."

"You need to cover your scent."

"Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope… If you think I will ever let you cover me with that, you are crazy."

"Please, it is for the best." Priestess tried to insist too, but the sophisticated girl had none of that.

"There's no use to convince her, the 'Ice Queen' will never easily comply." Brawler commented.

"Hey!" Fencer replied with annoyance due to the nickname. She walked away in disgust from the group, but not too far from them. Grimm Slayer grabbed the blood-soaked piece of cloth from the Priestess' hands and threw it to the nagging huntress. She went mad as it touched her back. "Why you little…" She started to chase the hooded girl in anger. Everyone started to laugh off the moment.

"Odd." Goblin Slayer said while looking at the goblin's corpses.

"Is there something wrong?" Priestess asked.

"Goblin Riders tend to scout on bigger groups. Only three showed up."

"I'm sure they are just taking a break or something," Brawler said as it wasn't imperative. The party decided to move on with Goblin Slayer being ahead of them.

They went carefully with each step in the dark woods; they were always alert for any surprise attacks. It was unsettling being outside. Those weren't like fairy tales that some of that group used to read as children. They were already grown-ups, most of them at least, as they already faced tougher enemies.

Goblins, as the huntresses saw at first hand those small creatures, they looked neither tough nor smart to oppose a real threat. If those were for low-tier requests, they shouldn't be much a problem. Especially when you have a silver-rank expert at the party.

"I can see them." Goblin Slayer stopped suddenly; the rest of the party did the same. They were looking at two different sources of light between the trees. The lights looked apart from each other.

"We would need to divide." The hooded girl commented as she examined the party.

"No." The armored guy objected. "Bad idea."

"Why?" Brawler asked.

"We still don't know many are around the area yet."

"We are ruby…er, I mean sapphire-rank huntresses. Those aren't even at the same level as Beowolves."

"Don't underestimate goblins." Goblin Slayer warned to the blond huntress, and she didn't care at all.

"Please, you must listen to him." Priestess tried to act as a mediator, but it was awkward between those two.

"We will go first towards the light of the left. We can go to the other light after that." The armored guy gave simple instructions to everyone. Brawler wasn't too happy about going together instead of dividing and covering more area. She looked at her younger sister, who was willing to listen to Goblin Slayer at the moment.

"Grrr…fine." She sighed.

Goblin Slayer gave the signals to Cat Ninja of pulling throwing knives and shurikens. Both were aiming at the goblins that were guarding a cave. They threw them fast as the wind at their heads. The goblins got stab on the eyes, Goblin Slayer and Cat Ninja jumped them with a surprise attack to cut them in half. The armored guy used his small shield to smash one of the goblin's head against a rock, impaling the knife further in its head. The Faunus girl used only her tanto to cut the other goblin's throat.

"Four, Five…" Goblin Slayer counted the kills.

"That was easy." Ninja commented as she cleaned her blade. Goblin Slayer remained silent as he examined the entrance and more pieces of clothing on the ground. Those were better fabrics and textiles, something that a person would wear it.

"Did you find something?" The hooded girl asked.

"They have someone as a hostage." Everyone was shocked at hearing the adventurer's words. He lit a torch and examined the cave's appearance. By judging the diameter and the entrance's size, the cave didn't look big for a full nest. Goblin Slayer started to wonder that the goblins' patterns of thinking were off lately. "We must go inside, but only three people can go inside as such kind of space would make us easy prey for the goblins."

"Aren't you going inside?" Priestess asked her companion.

"My armor wouldn't allow me to move properly inside. I need three of you to get in and look for anyone there."

"I'll go." Grimm Slayer volunteered herself, but the armored guy refused it with a hand signal.

"Sorry, but your weapon isn't good in such space."

"Then I guess I will go in it, I can go without blend on the shadows if things go bad." Cat Ninja offered to go instead. Goblin Slayer was touching his chin under his helmet, quiet for a couple of seconds.

"Goblins can still sense you on the dark, but you can still fool them as long you caught them by surprise first." The adventurer said with approval. "We still need two more."

"It looks like I will go too; my magic could work on close quarters." Fencer offered help, much to the huntresses' surprise. "What? Don't look at me like that."

"If that's what you want." Brawler shrugged.

"Would you accompany them?" Goblin Slayer asked the Priestess.

"I-I don't know."

"They will need your help inside there. They are capable enough."

"Not so sure of leaving you out." The Priestess was conflicted about leaving her companion, especially if he needed healing due to his reckless behavior.

"I'll be alright. They would need your knowledge about goblins inside." Goblin Slayer started to pat Priestess' head, giving her confidence. "Be careful." She nodded. The two huntresses and the healer went inside the narrowed cave, leaving the rest of the party watching for more goblins outside.

Fencer went ahead of the group with a torch on her left hand, already drawing her rapier with the other hand. The Priestess was behind her with Cat Ninja being the last on the line to cover everyone's backs. They walked close to the walls; the further they went. Exactly as Goblin Slayer mentioned, the cave wasn't that long as they were getting closer to another source of light at the end of the cave.

"Hey, look," Fencer said to the others as they saw a small door in a broader room. It was a dead end. "Could it be?" Priestess started to look at her surroundings. There were some smaller torches on the walls; it gave her some bad vibes about the cave.

Both huntresses approached the door, the closer they were getting, it became colder once at the center of the place. Cat Ninja started to open the door with a small irritating sound on it. On the dark hole, bound by chains, and dried blood all over the room, there was a person on the ground. Beaten, weak, and unable to react with light, the huntress looked with horror as the girl in drags was in such a deplorable state.

"Oh my…This…" Fencer wanted to throw up, but she only looked away while Priestess and Ninja went inside to help the prisoner.

"Her… don't tell me this…" Ninja was also out of words, trying to grasp the situation.

"This what goblins do to women," Priestess said bluntly. They thought Goblin Slayer would be the only one, but the adventurer girl wouldn't go sweet either. The documents the huntresses learned about goblins back at Remnant omitted those details. "Let's get her out of here." She said while trying to carry the prisoner with her shoulder. Ninja wanted to help her to stand as well.

"I don't like this…" Fencer tried to hold her breath. Some dirt fell over her head, much to the sophisticated girl's confusion. Cat Ninja's ears started to twitch by hearing crumbles nearby.

Those noises came from above.

"Move out!" The Faunus warned the rest while walking in the center of the cave. Fencer and Priestess jumped out of the way as the ceiling was collapsing. The earth and dirt started to engulf the area. The party covered their eyes and mouths to avoid the smoke of dirt before getting blind by it. From small glimpses, they started to notice a significant figure as they began to regain visibility.

"Is that…?"

"It's a Hobgoblin!" Priestess yelled in terror before Cat Ninja could say anything about the large goblin. The huntresses were caught by surprise that there was a more prominent type of goblin than the usual imps they saw before. It roared at them with ferocity while carrying a massive club with its right hand.

"What is he doing?" Fencer asked as the Hobgoblin was moving towards the exit. With its club, it did a mighty swing that caused the tunnel to crumble, efficiently blocking their way out.

"It looks like we have no other choice." The Cat Ninja drew her katana with both hands while Fencer was taking her stance. Priestess put the hostage back to the hole for her safety. Two huntresses and an adventurer against a Hobgoblin, they didn't like their odds.

* * *

"Dammit! Something blocked the tunnel!" Brawler said while trying to dig between the rocks with her punches.

"Don't waste your energy; those goblins were expecting us." The armored guy restrained the blond huntress from punching the rocks. Grimm Slayer was looking at the wood. Her bright silver eyes started to notice a couple of dark figures among the trees.

"More Goblin Riders are coming!" She told the others, they reacted quickly and took cover behind the trees. The Goblin Slayer got his bow at hand while looking for his targets. Furious Brawler took a sling and began spinning it in circles while gaining momentum. Grimm Slayer got her musket ready, loaded, and deadly for anything incoming.

Five Goblin Riders went at high speed, fast as lightning with bows, spears, and swords ready to fight. Their eyes were vicious and the wolves hungry, they threw their spears and arrows at the party who they were taking cover. Goblin Slayer shot back at them by hitting on either the riders or their mounts. Brawler did the same by launching rocks with her sling. She was breaking skulls with her projectiles. The hooded girl aimed carefully through the iron sights, and with a simple pull of the trigger, she was able to get multiple kills with a single shot. Both rider and mount got their head exploded on the right angle that the pellet pierced the wolf's body and hitting the goblin's head.

"Nice shot, sis!" Brawler complemented to the girl in red.

"Focus!" Goblin Slayer said to the huntresses without taking his sight away from the pack. Grimm Slayer started with the tedious process of reloading her weapon, applying another pellet, and some powder before being ready for another shot.

"Another wave is coming!" She yelled while looking at the distance. "Those wolves look pretty bad."

"Those aren't wolves." Goblin Slayer reaffirmed to the hooded girl's words. The second wave was three Goblin Riders, much less than before. However, their mounts were much wild and bloodthirsty. Their hides were black as night, and their faces covered with a bone-like armor that made themselves distinctive from other predators.

They couldn't believe what they saw it. Three Beowolves were acting as mounts for the goblins. Each one of them was carrying two goblins on their backs.

"You have to be kidding me!" Brawler wasn't happy about how things were turning out. The party kept firing at the wave, but it went much tricky as the Grimm were more resilient to arrows and rocks. Goblin Slayer tried to aim at the riders, but the canine creatures were using their heads to block the arrows without failing.

"Incoming!" Grimm Slayer called out for the armored guy. She aimed against one of the charging Beowolves. She pulled the trigger again, killing the Grimm without worrying about the bone armor. It wasn't enough as some of the goblins fell off the mount tried to shoot at the party too. "Well, not enough." She commented while reloading the musket one again.

"We better change our tactics." Goblin Slayer put the bow away while drawing his small sword.

"Come at me, ugly imps!" Brawler did the same; she got her gauntlets ready against her opponents.

As the riders were approaching, some of the goblins shot arrows at the armored guy, but he blocked must of them with his shield. Goblins jumped off the mount, leaving the Beowolf to roam free by going directly at Goblin Slayer. The Grimm swung his claws against the adventurer with ferocity. Its vicious claws and fangs gave him enough trouble as it was powerful than regular goblins.

"Let me help you with that!" Grimm Slayer went at his aid. She sliced with her scythe at the creature, but It blocked her attacks with the claws and bone-spikes from its arms. Goblin Slayer took the chance as it was already distracted by backstabbing it and Grimm Slayer executed the Beowolf by decapitating it. They were far from done.

"Get off me, stupid goblins!" Brawler was busy on her side of the battle due to a lot of goblins were trying to surround her. She was able to kill some of them with one punch, but those foul creatures jumped from the trees. Packs of goblins tried to pile themselves on her to slow her down. One after another, they were over her like insects, hoping to kill her quickly. Little they knew that she hated that. "Get…off…ME!" She did a double lariat, punching goblins out of her way.

"Sis!" Grimm Slayer saw Brawler in danger; she ran while leaving a trace of roses behind. The last Beowolf tried to attack the hooded girl, but she dodged with ease and using her blade to cut the Grimm in half without leaving it much a chance to fight. "Are you alright!?" The hooded girl stood next to the blond huntress.

"I'm fine… I just need… a minute." Brawler spoke with a long pause while catching her breath. For weak creatures, she was surprised that a lot of them managed to worn her out in no time. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm good. We need a way to think about how to defeat them and…watch out!" Grimm Slayer pulled herself and her older sister out of the way as something strike the ground with enough power almost to kill both huntresses with one strike.

"What the hell is that!?" Brawler yelled as she and her younger sister saw a bigger goblin with small pieces of armor and scars on it. To make matters worse, it was restraining an Alpha Beowolf with chains around its neck as it as an attack dog. Both looked equally monstrous.

"A Goblin Champion." The armored guy said with a cautious tone than usual. "Step away from it!" He rushed towards the huntresses, hoping to help them to survive as the Goblin Champion was beyond their leagues. The powerful goblin looked at the adventurer with a devious smirk. It released the chains from its hand, making the Alpha to charge against Goblin Slayer while ignoring the huntresses.

With the Goblin Slayer getting busy with the Grimm, it left both sisters to deal with the Goblin Champion by themselves in the meanwhile.

* * *

"On your left!"

"Got it!" The Cat Ninja replied to the sophisticated girl while they were still fighting the Hobgoblin inside the cave. The strong goblin swung its club at the girl in black, but she vanished instantly to reappear behind it. It reacted quickly and grabbed her from the neck to strike her against the ground. Fencer used her magic by throwing fireballs at it, freeing the Faunus from its hands.

The Hobgoblin used his club to block the magic attacks. He started to charge against them like a bull, but the huntresses dodged it in no time while the opponent only hit crashed against the wall.

"This is useless; that thing keeps stopping all our attacks." Fencer started to get annoyed by the large goblin.

"Isn't a faster way to take it down?" The Ninja asked the Priestess, who was the only one with experience against such creatures.

"I know how to stop it, but I need you to get it close to a wall." She explained both huntresses. It didn't take too much time for them to know what exactly to do. The Elemental Fencer used her magic to infuse electricity into both Ninja's blades. They charged at it with fast movements.

Fencer used her rapier with frontal strikes while avoiding the Hobgoblins' attacks. That gave enough time for the Ninja to slash it with electrical blows to stun it. The goblin began to back off without noticing that it was getting its back against the wall.

"_Blizzard!_" Fencer used ice magic on the ground, making it slippery enough for her companion to kick it, cornering the Hobgoblin. "Now!" The sophisticated girl gave the signal to Priestess, who was already praying to cast a miracle ahead of time.

"_Protection_!" She shouted while a wall of light trapped the Hobgoblin with the magical barrier. That left it vulnerable for the final assault. Both huntresses began stabbing, cutting, and crushing the defenseless opponent to the point that it became nothing but a pulp of blood. The barrier disappeared, leaving the Hobgoblin's corpse fell to the ground.

It was a disgusting view of Fencer.

"We are safe but still trapped." Priestess commented as she was taking the hostage out of the hole.

"Seriously, there's no way out unless we have an explosion." The Cat Ninja said while cleaning her blades.

"I'm out of magic to even create one. The mist we can do is wait for them." Everyone nodded at Fencer's suggestions. It was clear that it was impossible to leave the cave by themselves. They sat and waited for the rest of the party to exit. Priestess began to pray, hoping that Goblin Slayer and the huntresses were safe outside of there.

* * *

"Up here!" Grimm Salyer yelled at the Goblin Champion from a reasonably high height. She was spinning vertically with her weapon, hoping to cut it in half. Too bad it wasn't a Grimm. The powerful goblin blocked the attack with one arm while countering the huntress with a punch. The hooded girl went flying among the trees.

She slowed herself by using her weapon to hook on a tree while avoiding damage. Brawler charged at it and started punching the Goblin Champion on the torso but didn't do much damage due to its muscle mass.

It returned punches at the blond huntress as well, she withstood those but were painful.

The Goblin Slayer was dealing with his problems as well. He did nothing more than avoiding the Alpha Beowolf's attacks. He tried to use his short sword, but its bones were covering most parts of its body like armor. The Grimm attempted to bite the adventurer's head while lifting his body. He stabbed it with a knife on the mandible, releasing it without problems.

Goblin Slayer distanced himself from the Alpha as they looked at each other at the eyes with hatred; those were eyes of a predator. He put his sword away while pulling his torch and a small flask from his satchel on each hand. It was clear that he had something in mind about how to defeat it, but it would be a waste of resources.

The Grimm was the first to make a move, to leaped towards the armored guy with its big fangs. It opened its mouth wide enough to tear heads off, but something that didn't anticipate was the Goblin Slayer's sharp mind. He shoved both the flask and lite torch on its mouth while pushing it away from him.

The Alpha started to react rather violently as he felt something burning inside. It was screaming in agony as how all smoke and fire were burning its intestines on an accelerating rate. It didn't take too long before the Alpha's chest started to melt, and spilling fire with painful coughs.

"What a waste of good gasoline." The Goblin Slayer said while looking at the Grimm, slowly dying.

"What a resilient guy…" Brawler muttered while trying to get enough strength to be at least able to stand correctly. Her stamina was running low, and health started to reach critical. The Goblin Champion punch her once again to the point of sending her across the woods, making one tree to fall.

"Sis!" Grimm Slayer yelled. She tried to fight the powerful goblin by herself by using her speed to catch it off guard. Sadly, that wasn't the case for Little Red. "Ugh!" She got grabbed off the neck with a firm grip that could break bones like branches. The Grimm Slayer was asphyxiating as the Goblin Champion was strangling her skinny neck. It smiled viciously, ready for its next meal right on hand.

Before it could make a large bite on the hooded girl, the Goblin Slayer threw a knife at the powerful goblin, stabbing exactly at its right eye. Bleeding and half-blind, the Goblin Champion did a gruesome reaction that roared like an animal. The goblin dropped the unconscious huntress to the ground.

"Play time's over." The armored guy spoke with a deeper yet menacing voice. Underneath his usual composed demeanor, there was an eerie aura surrounding him. The most prominent feature was his left eye turning into a crimson, ones compared to a demon of vengeance.

The Goblin Champion tried to back off a little, but it was futile as it sensed another terrifying presence behind it. It turned what was behind it, only to see a yellow radiance on the trees. It was bright as the sun, burning as gold, the Furious Brawler was walking towards the Goblin Champion with red eyes straight out of the depths of hell.

"Get your filthy hands away from my sister now!" She yelled as much as her lungs could allow her, something that made the earth to tremble.

Both huntress and adventurer got the foul creature on their sight. It began to feel terror despite being a fearless fighter among his race. Those ferocious fighters didn't say another word, not that they needed anyways as they let their eyes do the talk for them.

**WARNING!**

**Adventurer's Guilds and Huntsmen Academies do not make themselves responsible for injuries or collateral damage caused by the Goblin Slayer and Furious Brawler during the berserk status. It's highly recommended to be on a safe distance until they return to a healthy state.**

They charged at the Goblin Champion at the same time. It tried to block both ways, but the Furious Brawler broke its guard with a single punch. That left an opening that Goblin Slayer to the chance by using his short blade to slash its stomach. It wasn't enough.

Brawler punched to its knees, efficiently breaking them as sticks. The Goblin Champion tried to punch her back, but the armored guy amputated its arm with the Grimm Slayer's scythe.

Kneeled and defenseless, Goblin Slayer positioned his shield behind the goblin's back. Brawler wasted no time and began launching a barrage of fisticuffs at the torso of the Champion. How many ribs did she break? How many internal organs did she pulverize? It didn't matter for the Brawler as every blow she made at the goblin until it threw up blood at her face.

The Goblin Champion wasn't able to even recognize its surroundings. The armored guy moved his shield behind the goblin's head. It acted as an aiming target, fitting as the Brawler was charging one last strike with a fist on fire.

In a blink of an eye, she punched the Champion's head until crushing it, splattering into thousands of pieces. The headless corpse became a geyser of blood, painting the woods in red.


	4. Short Day, Long Night

"Come on, wake up!" Brawler was holding Grimm Slayer around her arms with an alarming attitude. "Say something, please." She tried to shake her from the shoulders gently, but the hooded girl wasn't responding.

"No use, she is still unconscious for the lack of oxygen."

"Yes, I see that!" The huntress replied to Goblin Slayer, she wasn't on the best behavior as for how worried she was. Her younger sister started to react with sounds and slowly opening.

"Sis…?" she asked with a quiet tone.

"I'm here." Brawler replied.

"Can I ask you…something…?"

"Anything, just tell me."

"Come closer." Grimm Slayer started to cough, much to her sister's concerns. She put her ear close to her mouth, hoping to get an answer. "Can we get biscuits with cream and milked tea when we get back?" Brawler reacted in confusion as she thought it would be something more serious. However, she was glad that wasn't the case.

"Sure thing." The blond huntress replied with a weak smile as Grimm Slayer fell to sleep.

"We still need to get the others out of that cave." Goblin Slayer said to the huntress with his usual emotionless tone.

"Oh right…could you carry her for me? My back is in pain after fighting that ugly thing."

"Okay." The armored complied to her request. Brawler carried to the hooded girl and put on Goblin Slayer's back for a piggy ride. The blond huntress took her sister's weapon and walked towards the light where the cave was.

It was an unexpected and terrifying outcome. Furious Brawler never thought that goblins, the weakest and unimportant creatures could give her a bad night. It was bad enough for not caring about the adventurers' warnings about those foul beings despite appearances. She wanted to thank Goblin Slayer for saving her on the niche of time, but she was ashamed of herself to do it. Brawler couldn't find the right words at the moment.

"I can see the cave." The armored guy pointed at the location where the others were trapped. Too bad they didn't have anything to destroy the obstruction.

"Do you have any ideas?" Brawler asked.

"We could use some explosion or power-crushing attacks. Too bad I wasted my flask of gasoline."

"Power-crushing attacks you say? Step aside." Brawler said while stepping in front of the cave's entrance. _'I hope I still have magic.' _She thought while closing her eyes. She got into position while clashing both knuckles from her gauntlets. Her fists set on fire as she started to punch the rocks on away. It didn't take too much time on until she was able to reach the end of the tunnel.

The moment she destroyed the obstructions, Priestess, Fencer and Ninja were caught off guard with the sudden entrance Brawler did. "What in the world!?" Fencer jumped.

"Hello." Brawler greeted the group while looking at her surroundings. "Oh geez, what happened to it?" She asked while looking at the wall in blood.

"It was a Hobgoblin we had to deal with." Priestess commented.

"Hobgoblin? How many types of goblins exist?"

"That doesn't matter, just let us out of here already!" The Ice Queen said with a bossy tone. Brawler complied by making an exit, big enough for everyone to get through. They began walking one behind the other with the Priestess carrying the hostage on her shoulders, but she felt lighter than usual.

"Don't worry, we are getting you out of here." The adventurer girl said with reassurance. They were finally out of the cave and began looking at their surroundings as they saw corpses of goblins on the ground. "Goblin Slayer!" She called out. "What happened to her?" Priestess asked while noticing the hooded girl on his back.

"She tried to fight a Goblin Champion." He replied.

"A G-Goblin Champion!? Is she alright!?" She asked with worried eyes.

"She is, she didn't suffer any major injuries, but she just passed out. Are you alright?"

"I am, but we need to take the hostage somewhere safe." Priestess said. The huntresses were looking at Grimm Slayer being unconscious, and the trees painted in blood.

"What happened here?" Ninja asked Brawler.

"You wouldn't believe me if I tell you."

"Surprise me." Fencer said with the crossed arms.

"Not only we dealt with an ambush of goblins, but also Beowolves were asking for trouble."

"And that's not all." Goblin Slayer interjected on the conversation. "The goblins started to use Grimm as mounts and attack dogs." Despite sounding unsurprised, the armored guy's words were enough to shock the huntresses. They were dumbfounded and skeptical.

"That's ridiculous." Fencer scoffed. "There's no way Grimm can be tamed. Those creatures act on pure instinct."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same until I saw that big freak using an Alpha against this guy."

"How is that even possible?" Priestess asked.

"We can't be sure. This is the first time of hearing that." Ninja commented while looking at the goblin corpses. "If goblins are using Grimm, then we need to get clues of how they are doing that."

"I suggest returning to the Guild first. We might get some clues with the rest of our party." Priestess started walking with the hostage. The rest of the party were confused about the situation between goblins and Grimm. There was no use, they were tired to even think about it. Goblin Slayer was the first to follow his companion while still carrying Grimm Slayer. There were so many questions, but not enough time to answer all of them. The huntresses began walking while seeing how bleak the woods looked.

After that night, it became clear that nothing was like Remnant. They risked their skins for a girl who probably lost any will or soul by the foul creatures. The huntresses looked at Goblin Slayer while thinking for how long he was doing those kinds of requests. He probably saw a lot of things; his mind was an enigma. Even if they understood why he would fight goblins, it was difficult to determine if his mind was still sane at that point.

That didn't matter for them as the only thing they wanted was to return before the dawn.

* * *

"I'm tired." Ranger said while putting his face against the table.

"Tell me about. I'm hungry as well. Can we order something?" Valkyrie asked Spearman who he was sitting in between Paladin and Ranger.

"Sure thing, you guys earned it after a long day." He said while calling the waitress with a hand wave.

"Was it…interesting…for everyone?" Witch asked the huntsmen while smoking.

"It was great. Although, I wished that we didn't need to deal with more Grimm." Warrior commented as she was looking at her shield with nasty scratches.

"Speaking of that. What is exactly those Grimm you were talking about? They don't like the usual monsters or demons." Spearman asked. The waitress with wolf ears and paws brought drinks for everyone at the party. He began chugging his drink.

"We already explained you! Those are creatures made from negative emotions." Paladin said as he needed some sleep. He looked in the worst condition our of everyone at the party.

"Negative…emotions…how peculiar."

"Yeah, that gorilla-thing almost broke my skull with that jab. At least I know those things aren't from here either. Do you have any idea of why those creatures on are appearing The Frontier?"

"That is something we don't have a clue either." The redhead huntress pulled a notebook. She passed to the Witch who was next to her. "As you can see, they don't have a specific place where those can appear. It is a relief they can't do that on settlements, but it is alarming since Grimm are from Remnant." Warrior explained in great detail while the Witch was reading the notebook.

"Creatures… from far away… there must be… a cause." Witch wasn't too happy the further she inspected the note about the Grimm they fought today. As it was described, Grimm acted out of instinct, and nothing else.

At that moment, the Guild's front door was open with Goblin Slayer, and his party entered with Grimm Slayer still on his back.

"Welcome back." Guild Girl greeted with her usual smile. Her expression changed when she saw the unconscious huntress. "Oh my, what happened to her?"

"She tried to fight a Goblin Champion. She is alright but needs some sleep."

"Goblin Champion, that can't be good." The receptionist said with a grimace. "We have a guest room for her to recover."

"Thank you for that." Brawler said gratefully while Guild Girl gave a key to her. Goblin Slayer, Priestess, and Brawler went upstairs while heading to the room. They would expect Grimm Slayer to wake up at least after the long day. Fencer and Ninja saw their friends already sitting on a table. They went towards them to get something to eat as well.

"Oh, whehom bah!" Valkyrie greeted while eating a large piece of steak.

"Please, don't talk with the mouth full." Ranger said to his companion as he was enjoying some beef stew.

"How was the request?" Javelin Warrior asked her fellow huntress.

"It was tough, who would think that goblins were resilient?" Ninja commented while asking the waitress for a glass of milk.

"Goblins? What exactly goblins look like?" Paladin asked.

"Filthy imps. That's what we thought until we had to deal with one, they called 'Hobgoblin,' which was bigger than the rest of them." Fencer said while using a handkerchief to clean her seat.

"More than one type of goblin? I don't recall in the documents back at Beacon."

"The documents weren't complete anyway. And that's not all." Ninja replied Warrior.

"From what Brawler told us, they witnessed goblins taming Beowolves to fight us." Fencer's comment was enough to make the group of huntsmen act in shock. Spearman and Witch were surprised too as they heard the conversation.

"H-Hold on a second… There's no way Grimm can be tamed!" Paladin said with a hesitant tone. "We fought them a lot of time, but there's no way something like those can use them."

"Yeah, we couldn't believe it too at first. When we asked the Goblin Slayer about the details. Some goblins used Grimm as both mounts and attack dogs. We don't know how they were able to pull that off, but that can't be a good thing." Ninja said with her fingers between her chin.

"So…that's why Grimm Slayer was unconscious?" Ranger asked.

"Sort of. That dolt tried to fight a bigger goblin." Fencer crossed her arms. "At least, she didn't end badly injured or else."

"What about all of you? Which request did you take?" Ninja asked her friends.

"Weh haeed a traaahsue."

"What?" Valkyrie swallowed her food to reply to Fencer's question.

"We hunted a treasure!"

"A treasure? I thought we weren't allowed to choose another type of request aside from the ones they offered us." Ninja said with confusion.

"Yeah, we, but not him." Paladin said while pointing at Spearman.

"How?"

"He thought that killing rats or collecting samples weren't befitting for an adventurer of his category. In a way, we could get better requests if an adventurer chooses for us instead."

"How it went the treasure hunting then?" Fencer asked.

"Well…"

* * *

_"Take him on the left!" Spearman ordered to his party while fighting a Beringel._

"_Understood." Ranger replied while throwing knives at the powerful Grimm. It was distracted enough to make Paladin and Warrior attack the Beringel from blind spots. But it reacted quickly to launch Paladin against a wall with a punch. His shield at least protected him from the attack but wasn't good enough to withstand the attack._

"_We need to restrain this thing!" Spearman said while blocking the Grimm's attacks._

"_On my…way." Witch began reciting a spell. "_Vines_…" A green light came out of her staff. A bunch of vines came from the floor and wrapped the Grimm like chains on the ground. It started to tear them apart to free itself._

"_Everyone, now!" Spearman charged towards the creature with his weapon impaling its body. The rest of the party did the same by stabbing the Grimm with their blades, hoping that would be enough to slow it down. "This is your chance!"_

"_Incoming!" Valkyrie wasted no time by jumping towards the restrained Beringel with her hammer at hand. With an overhead swing with her weapon, she crushed the Grimm's head like a watermelon. "BONK!" She shouted in excitement._

* * *

"…And that was pretty much it." Paladin tried to summarize their experience.

"Well, at least you get your treasure, right?" Ninja commented.

"Hah! Good one." Valkyrie laughed sarcastically.

"Wait, you didn't get anything after that?"

"The treasure… was cursed." Witch interjected on the conversation.

"Apparently, anyone who takes the treasure, a curse would fall upon the victims by turning them into living skeletons. I can't believe we almost fell for that thing." Spearman gave a disappointed sigh. "Well, at least we can't get any skinnier than him."

"Hey, I have muscle too, you know?" Everyone began laughing as Paladin tried to show his bicep. Spearman gave a refusal gesture.

"Not a chance, but we can put you in shape early in the morning." He gave a pat on the back to the blond guy. The mood became lighter as they were talking various miscellaneous topics while getting some dinner from the Guild's kitchen. The food was lovely, the ambient gave a relaxing feeling that made them forget about the tedious day.

Things escalated pretty quickly as Valkyrie challenged Spearman to a drinking contest. The adventurer had no problem, and they began chugging the liquor down his throat. The hyperactive huntress was no slouch as she was able to keep the pace too. They were finishing their glasses at the same time. The second round was slower, but everyone on the table was able to see how much they were holding themselves to finish first. The third round was the point where Spearman started to feel the booze kicking in. Valkyrie was able to finish it first, but she didn't look any better.

In mere seconds, Spearman passed out on the table with his face completely in red.

"I WIN!" Valkyrie yelled victoriously before passing out too. Ranger caught her before she could fall to the ground, snoring with a smile on her face.

"What a mess." Fencer smiled while looking at the rest group. However, she looked at the second floor, thinking if Grimm Slayer will be alright after everything on the day. At this point, this new land will become not so different from home.


	5. Short Day, Long Night II

**Hello everyone, I want to say thank you for reading Grimm Slayer: The Frontier. **

**If I'm being honest, I never thought to come this far with this story was supposed to be a One-Shot thing. Then again, there are so many ideas from what I originally planned. It is clear that more characters started to appear and probably some more in the future. I'm not sure what I can expect in the story, but I'm really glad people enjoy it. **

**Thank you, all of you, it really means a lot since I want to try to improve my other stories.**

* * *

"I can't believe she is still sleeping." Priestess commented as Grimm Slayer was on the bed. Goblin Slayer was standing next to the door while Brawler was sitting on a chair, exactly next to the bed with a concerned look.

"She is a heavy sleeper when doing too much fighting on the same day." Brawler sighed. "It isn't easy to be an older sister."

"Good thing nothing bad happened to her against the Goblin Champion." Priestess said while trying to lighten the mood. Brawler remained quiet as she couldn't stop looking at her younger sister.

"Goblin Slayer." The huntress spoke. "I…I couldn't thank you before for saving her."

"Not a problem."

"No seriously, I really owe you a lot because without you, probably I wouldn't forgive myself if anything happened to her." Brawler clenched both of her fists, almost getting on fire. "She and our father are the only family I have. After losing our mother, my dad felt on depression when we were way too young."

"What…what happened to your mother?" Priestess asked but felt a little afraid as it sounded personal.

"She… she was a huntress too. She left for a mission but never returned, and some declared to be dead as the only thing our uncle found was her white cape. Sis was 2-years old when that happened. She probably doesn't even remember much of her. I'm trying to protect her from everything, or so I thought until this day." The room was full of melancholy, as Priestess looked at the floor with a sad expression.

Goblin Slayer grabbed a towel and poured some hot water on it. He squished it until it was warm enough to fold it. The armored guy went towards Grimm Slayer and put the warm towel on her forehead.

"What are you doing?" Brawler asked. The armored guy didn't respond. He left the room by saying a single word of it. The huntress looked confused, Priestess smiled a little as she knew why he was going it.

"Don't worry." The adventurer said with reassurance. "He wanted to make her feel better, on his way at least."

"I guess." Brawler said while trying to relax on the chair, looking at the ceiling with as she looked tired for the day. A couple of minutes later, someone knocked on the door. Priestess attended to see who it was.

"Hello, is this a bad moment?" It was the Guild Girl with a tray on hand. She was carrying a plate with food, two cups, and a teapot.

"No no, it is fine. What's with all this?" Priestess asked.

"Oh, Goblin Slayer asked me to bring biscuits and tea for your friend. He said she would like them." She said with a smile. Brawler and Priestess were happy although Brawler couldn't still understand what was inside the armored guy's mind.

"Thank you." Priestess replied while taking the tray.

"If you need anything else, don't forget to ask me on the desk." Guild Girl said while vowing and leaving the room.

"Well, I have to go. Hope you don't mind being alone for the moment."

"I will be fine. See you tomorrow." Priestess left both huntresses alone, taking a rest for the arduous night they had. The adventurer started wondering of how tough it must be fighting Grimm for so long back at their homeland. She wondered, whether Grimm or goblins, there's always a monster on everyone's life.

On the lobby, Priestess saw the tables being pretty vivid as she was walking downstairs. Everyone must be having the time of their lives.

"Here's the report." Goblin Slayer handed a paper to the receptionist.

"It wasn't necessary. You could do it for the next day. Although I appreciate your organization." Guild Girl said gladfully. She archived the paper along with other reports on a single folder. Goblin Slayer started to walk towards the exit.

"Goblin Slayer!" Priestess approached towards her companion. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going home. I wasn't there for a long time." He said in his usual tone. Despite sounding monotone, Priestess could sense some concernment underneath those words.

"Oh okay, I guess I will see you tomorrow… Oh, I almost forgot, have you seen the others" Priestess asked for the rest of their party.

"They left hours ago. Guild Girl told me that they wanted to investigate more about those Creatures of Grimm."

"I see... I hope they are alright." She said with concernment.

"They will be fine. See you tomorrow." Goblin Slayer said as he left the building. Priestess started to pray for the well-being of her companions. Wherever there are doing, the only thing she hoped was that they could seek for answers.

* * *

"What's wrong with those things!" High Elf Archer yelled as she was busy shooting a barrage of arrows to a pack of Bewolves.

"How should I know, Long-Ears!? Those are more problematic than yesterday!" Dwarf Shaman was spitting fire at two Boarbatusks, but with they were charging at him while ignoring the fire.

"Let's hold the line for the moment! There must be something to stop them" Lizard Priest was fighting against an Ursa with the assistance of his reanimated skeleton.

All the adventurers have been fighting Grimm for 30 minutes on the woods. It's been a weird concentration of those dark creatures that became alarming during the day. So far as their investigation went, they still couldn't get many answers.

"Hey, Scaly!" The Dwarf called for Lizard. "Could you give me a hand here!?"

"Gladly!" Lizard Priest wrestled with the Ursa. He used his strength to lift the Grimm and throw it against the Boarbatusks, smashing them while the animated skeleton tackled the Ursa for greater impact.

"There I go!" Dwarf used some rocks to shoot at them. He was able to kill the Borbatusk as those were affected on their weak points, but the Ursa was far from gone. "This can't be good." He said while looking at Grimm growing spikes and bone-like armor. It seemed angrier.

"Are you done with it!?" The Elf asked her party as she was using her dagger to slice Beowolves' throats and arrows to stab them on the eyes.

"It seems this one is evolving in the middle of a fight!" The Dwarf replied.

"What a curious creature. We shall find for a vulnerable spot before it grows further!" Lizard tried to attack it with his weapon made of bones, but it was enough as the spikes didn't allow him to get near. The Ursa Major countered the attack with two swift swings with its claws.

The reanimated skeleton tried to tackle it with all its power, but the Grimm was above its league. The Ursa Major shattered into pieces with a single blow.

"Okay, any other idea?" High Elf Archer asked as she was done killing the last Beowolf of the pack.

"Unless we have a bigger weapon, we can't get closer to it due to its armor." The Dwarf said while trying to get into position. The Grimm started charging against the adventurers. They dodged the attack on the niche of time.

It tried to bite them, but Lizard blocked the attack with his weapon. Some of the spikes were piercing his body, but the scales helped him not to get outright stabbed.

"On your left, you fiend!" The Elf tried to get the Grimm's attention. She began shooting arrows at its face, more especially, its eyes. Unfortunately, the mask covering its face nulled them, forfeiting the Archer from using her main weapon. "Dammit, not use!"

"You need something with more power than sticks, Long-Ears!" Dwarf Shaman said mockingly. Even in the worst situations, he still had time to berate his fellow adventurer.

"What could be stronger than arrows or magic!?"

"How about a gun?" For everyone's surprise, they heard an unknown voice coming from the trees. As they tried to look at the person standing among the branches, he began shooting with a filmstock pistol at the Ursa Major, effectively breaking some of the spikes surrounding its body.

"Who is this guy!?" The Elf asked as the stranger jumped down with his massive sword on the one hand. He swung it, effectively damaging the Grimm while sending it flying a couple of feet away from the adventurers and the Stranger.

The guy with the sword with lightning speed, he slashed and shot more spikes, leaving the Grimm vulnerable for any other attack. "I guess I played enough games with you, little cub." He smirked at the creature. Taking a firm stance, the stranger got his eyes on his mark.

The charged against each other, the tall grass and some trees received cuts on the air as both sides clashed. The Stranger sneezed, making the Ursa Major fall into pieces. It disappeared into black smoke.

"Impressive." Lizard Priest said with amazement.

"I have to say. He really gave us quite a help." The Elf said while putting her bow away.

"Meh, I said he was quite a show-off." Dwarf Shaman shrugged.

The Stranger opened a canteen, but he noticed it how empty it was. He was disappointed. His appearance was rough. He was wearing a tattered cape, messy black hair, and a 3-day beard. He didn't look a proper adventurer. Shockingly, they could see his tag being Rank Gold. "Huh?" He started noticing the adventurers looking at him with weird looks. "What?"

"Sorry, but we couldn't stop ourselves from admiring of how you dealt with Grimm." Lizard Priest said politely to the Stranger.

"What? You mean those? They were nothing." He said nonchalantly.

"How did you break that creature's armor? None of our weapons worked against it?" High Elf Archer asked the messy guy.

"Easy, I use better metals." He started to show both his sword and pistol.

"What curious trunk. You were able to make it spit fire out of it." Lizard Priest said while inspecting the pistol with fascination.

"Don't you know what a gun is?" The Stranger scratched his head while yawning.

"What is a gun?" The Elf asked.

"You naïve Long-Ears, don't tell me you aren't familiar with what a gun is." The Dwarf Shaman said with a taunting tone to her.

"O-Of course I do, it just happens that I don't remember."

"Don't lie to yourself, kid." The Stranger grabbed his gun back while showing it off with a demonstration shot. "This thing is capable to shot pellets, stronger than arrows or rocks. I wouldn't expect an immature girl like you could have the hang of this."

"I'm 2,000 years old. Don't treat me like a child!" The Elf was starting to look red on her face, something that the Dwarf snickered.

"Age doesn't mean much if you act like a brat."

"I changed my mind. I like this guy!" The Dwarf said as he couldn't stop laughing.

"In any case. I noticed that you appeared to be a huntsman, as I assumed." Lizard said.

"Oh, so know them huh? That saves me the trouble to explain to you who I am then." The Stranger said while holstering his weapons away. "Welp, I'm off. It was a nice talk, but I must continue."

"W-Wait a moment!" The Elf held the Stranger from his cape.

"Hey! Don't touch the cape!" He scoffed. "What do you want now?"

"We wanted to learn more of those creatures since you are the expert here."

"Sorry but I don't have time for classes at the moment. I'm out of liquor, and I should get more at the nearest town to refill it before doing more of my investigation." He said it while shaking his canteen.

"Well, we can bargain some info for liquor if that's what you ask, my fellow drinking connoisseur." The Dwarf said while showing his signature drink in front of the huntsman.

"What kind of liquor is that?"

"Fire Wine, only the best among my race." The Dwarf said proudly.

"You don't say? Let me taste it then." The Stranger took the little cup from the Dwarf's hands. He began to sip it, slowly savoring as the Fire Wine was from an acquired taste that couldn't find any other place in Remnant. "WOWIE! That really kicks in pretty fast!" The huntsman said while enjoying it.

"What are your expectations, good sir?" The Lizard Shaman asked.

"This goes way beyond!" He said while trying to contain himself of not getting more drunk than he already was. "I can share you some info if you can give me some of that to myself."

"You have a deal, my friend!" The Dwarf and the Stranger shook hands while pouring some of the liquor inside the huntsman's canteen.

"Now that all of you are so eager to learn more about Grimm. You should follow me then." The Stranger said while guiding the adventures. The group didn't object despite the huntsman being an odd person.

They walked until they reached a cliff, nothing at sight for the adventurers. "This is it." The Stranger said to the confused party.

"I think you got way too drunk because we don't see anything!" The High Elf complied.

"I'm talking about what's down the cliff." The huntsman pointed out for them to see what was below. And from what they saw, they weren't too happy with the surprise.

"Is that…"

"That's an old castle." The Lizard Priest said while looking closely to its surroundings.

"As you can see, that place has a nest of Grimm. It is probably a black pool where those things are emerging in this region." The Stranger explained in great detail. The group found it noteworthy that such monstrosities have a point of origin.

"Do you think that destroying the black pool will stop Grimm from appearing at The Frontier." The Dwarf Priest asked.

"No chance, there a lot more than I couldn't pinpoint their exact locations yet, but this one is pretty important since there are villages and other settlements close by. It will be troublesome if someone doesn't take of it now."

"How is that even possible? Why you didn't say any of that sooner?" The Elf asked about the severity of the situation.

"I just found it today, and I was on my way to notify at the closest Guild since this requires a bigger group to exterminate this place." The huntsmen took a sip of the exotic wine.

"This must be a troublesome situation. It goes with tremendous complexity than a regular request." The Lizard Priest said while analyzing the place.

"You stole the word right out of my mouth, Scaly. This would be a Raid Quest." The Dwarf said while the huntsman started to walk away from them.

"Where are you going?" The Elf asked the Stranger.

"I'm going to hunt more Grimm on the area while you guys put the request on the Guild."

"Wait, are you not going with us?"

"You kidding? I can't leave the area as long Grimm are still reappearing from that castle." He had his large sword out, ready for another fight. "You better get either adventurers or huntsmen. We can't start cleaning the place with less than ten people aboard."

"So, how can we contact you if we bring aid for that castle?" The Lizard Priest asked.

"Well, I'll wait in this exact spot. Don't worry for me, I'll always check here every once in a while, in case you return." The Stranger said while taking another sip of wine before starting to hunt. He was already gone among the woods, leaving the group thinking about their next move.

"I can't believe it." The High Elf Archer commented. "We are going to need more people, and I doubt Priestess and Orcbolg would be enough to accomplish this."

"Aren't you forgetting about the girls we found, Long-Ears?" Dwarf Shaman said while scratching his beard.

"Certainly, those girls and their friends should be enough to help us with this. Especially since they have more experience with those creatures." Lizard Priest started to prat for the Stranger's safety.

"Let's head back to the Guild then. We need to sleep and resupply before gathering them." The Elf started to walk away from the cliff while the rest of her group followed as well into the forest. They knew that they would need a lot of more preparation to accomplish a Raid Quest that will require teamwork.

What awaits for both adventurers and huntsmen within the limits of that castle?


	6. Another Morning

"Keep your guard up!" Spearman said to Shield Paladin while sparring early on the morning.

"I-I know that!" He replied while trying to counter-attack.

The rest of the party were sitting while looking at those two training. Valkyrie and Ranger were eating breakfast while Warrior and Witch focused their eyes on them with intense gazes. Seeing how those men were taking their sparring session seriously. It was somewhat dreamy for the ladies.

"They looked… pretty heated… isn't it?" Witched asked the redheaded huntress.

"They really are. I hope they aren't overdoing it." Warrior said with a worried tone. She couldn't take her eyes away from Paladin. He was giving his 100% in the parrying session.

"Don't hold your attacks! Show some backbone into it!"

"I'm trying alright!" They exchanged more bickering than blows at each other. As Paladin tried to swing his sword at the expert adventurer, he swiftly dodged the attack. He used his spear to sweep on the ground, making the blond huntsman trip. "Owww."

"You lost." Spearman said while pointing his weapon at Paladin.

"Again? Aww man." He said in disappointment.

"You need to stop going too much on the defensive. Your opponent might find an opportunity to strike you down unless you attack as well." Spearman began lecturing to his sparring opponent. He began extending his hand to help Paladin standing up. "Although, I must admit that you are not bad on the defense though, especially with your healing magic."

"Thanks, I guess." Paladin replied being lifted by the adventurer.

"By the way, which god is getting you his blessing? It must be someone powerful to grant you white magic."

"Well, I couldn't tell you who is…" Paladin said as if he was ashamed of it.

"Come on! Tell him already, or I will do it for you!"

"Valkyrie!" Paladin said to the energetic girl while still chewing his bread.

"It can't be that bad. Just tell which god is." Spearman insisted with a lot of curiosity.

"It's… The Goddess of Baths…" Paladin sighed in embarrassment. Spearman snickered briefly but tried to restrain himself from laughing at him.

"To be honest, it is still a deity, so it still counts." The adventurer tried to complement Paladin. Spearman looked at him as he wasn't in the best mood. "Cheer up a little bit, will you? You have strength but still lacks finesse. I'm sure you will get better with time."

"How oddly kind of you to say that." Spearman heard someone's voice approaching. It was the voice of someone he didn't want to hear at the moment. "Since when did you become a leader for young blood?" It was Heavy Warrior and his party passing by.

"Just yesterday, and that doesn't concern you." Spearman replied to his rival.

"It took me by surprise when I heard about your now-formed party. I guess you finally soften that little arrogance of yours after so long. I guess you can't think on your own."

"Think whatever you want, my party and I are much stronger than most rookies around." He said pridefully to Heavy Warrior.

"Are you done discussing? We must go now." Female Knight said to her leader while grabbing him from the shoulder. Heavy Warrior replied her with a nod.

"It was a nice chat, better not going rough on them." He said while walking away. His party started to catch up on his speed as he went ahead of them. That left Spearman with a bitter look on his face.

"I really hate that guy's guts." He muttered.

"Hey, don't pay attention what he says." Paladin tried to reassure to the adventurer. "Bullies like him aren't worth it."

"I wouldn't call it a bully, but this guy can get on my nerves at times." Spearman sighed. "Also, since when did we switched places!?"

"I don't know… but you can say that I already got my experience with that kind of people before."

"Heh, maybe." The adventurer gave a weak smile while giving a pat on Paladin's back. "I guess we got enough of a break. Let's keep sparring!"

"R-Right!" The blond huntsman replied while getting his guard up. Both men started to train once again. Paladin might not have a chance to win the round, but he was determined to give Spearman a tough fight on the very at least.

* * *

Inside a room, Grimm Slayer started to wake up from the comfy bed. She felt that her head was spinning around. The huntress couldn't remember much what happened except her fight with the Goblin Champion. As she rubbed her eyes, the girl noticed a plate full of biscuits next to a note.

"What is this?" She looked at the note marked _FOR SIS_ on one side of it. She took it and began reading it.

"_Hi, the girls and I will go around town gathering information about more Grimm since the Guild doesn't have it registered yet. I hope you like the biscuits since Goblin Slayer ordered them for you when you wake up. See you around. Your Big Sister, Furious Brawler."_

Grimm Slayer was done reading the note. She began eating the biscuits with joy and sometimes accidentally choking herself while eating in a rush. Those tasted good enough as she started to regain her energies for the day. "Alright, time to start the day with a bang!" She shouted while jumping out of bed.

Youthful, optimistic, and ready to see everyone downstairs. She tried to get a new change of clothes for more casual attire. As always, black dress, shoes, and her signature red hood. Fencer would judge her for lack of varied styles.

She left the room with lightning speed while leaving a trace of petals behind. She started to see the Guild getting more people than usual, it looked like a vivid place, but she couldn't see any of her friends or party around. She walked downstairs while noticing various types of adventurers, and possibly huntsmen chatting or preparing for possible requests. It was the usual routine in that place.

"Good morning!" Guild Girl greeted the hooded girl with her cheerful smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thanks for asking." Grimm Slayer replied while still looking for her friends. "Excuse me, but have you seen the rest of my party or Goblin Slayer's?"

"They left hours ago, and Goblin Slayer hasn't returned yet. He is probably busy with something else before presenting here."

"I see… Do you have an idea where they could be, just in case?"

"The most I can recall, I heard they would be at the Blacksmith shop."

"Thanks for the hint!"

"No problem." Guild Girl smiled while the girl in red walked through the main door. Once outside, Grimm Slayer looked at the bright sky while seeing the town full of life.

While walking around, she started to notice some of the townsfolks decorating the streets with ribbons and carts. Hearing people talking, the hooded girl noticed that the town would have a special event called the Harvest Festival.

Much to her surprise, she and her party never were able to enjoy the rest of the Vytal Festival back at home. The event got cut short due to Grimm started appearing on The Frontier, sending huntsmen without taking a break. It was a shame, but at least she and her friends could enjoy another festival on a different continent at the very at least.

"Mhhh… where the Blacksmith was again?" She said to herself. The hooded girl got easily distracted as she saw the town's decorations. "Aha! Now I remember it. It was this way!" She said as she started running to the shop.

* * *

"I'm sorry to disappoint you sonny, but we don't sell 'pellets' here if that's what you're asking." The Blacksmith talked with a young man in the store.

"Is that so? I guess I will keep looking for it somewhere else." The young man said disappointingly.

"I bet folks like you aren't used to fight with other types of weapons such as yours, am I right?" The Blacksmith said while looking at the possible huntsman's weapon. He showed it on the table a multi-barrel flintlock pistol.

"Yeah, we are sort of dependent on this stuff. While useful, I rather stick with something more versatile." The young man said while showing his worn-out hatchet to Blacksmith.

"Smart thinking, you can't always rely on those 'guns' people been talking about lately." The old man commented as he was feeling some sympathy for the young man. "Tell you what, I can give you a better hatchet half the price since I don't provide pellets for you. What do you think?"

"Sounds good for me." The huntsman said without any complaints. He looked around the store for a better replacement. He saw a tribal one with feathers attached to it. "How about this one?" The young huntsman asked as he was swinging it with the left arm.

"Not a bad choice, kid. Not only sturdy for close combat but also light weighted enough to throw it at any distance." The Blacksmith complemented for his customer's choice.

"I'll take it, and probably you should add some potions too my shopping list." The young huntsman said while taking his weapons back. He paid to the old man while heading to the main door. As he was about to open it, Grimm Slayer entered the store.

As they exchanged looks at each other, the young huntsman didn't pay much attention to the hooded girl as he went on his way out. Grimm Slayer noticed something unusual about that person, as he not only had a nice black hat and long coat, but he was missing the right arm as well.

"What can I do for you, missy?" The Blacksmith asked the hooded girl.

"Uh…? Oh right, good morning. Have you seen either my party or the Goblin Slayer?"

"I can't say much about the girls, but the Goblin Slayer didn't come to my store today just yet."

"I see. Thank you anyway." The Grimm Slayer said while trying to leave the store.

"Hold on for a moment, young lady." The Blacksmith stopped the hooded girl before she could open the door.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked with a confused look.

"You and your party are huntresses, right."

"Yeah, is there a problem?"

"Not really, but don't you happen to own a 'gun' or something similar?"

"Oh, I do actually, my scythe works like a musket. Why asking about it, though?" Grimm Slayer started wondering about the old man's questions.

"Well, I been getting a lot of more customers that are huntsmen as well. All of them started asking me the same thing about 'guns' or 'ammo' lately."

"Really?"

"Aye, unfortunately for me that I don't provide any of it. Don't you have a pellet or something within yourself?" On the Blacksmith's behalf, the hooded girl started to look on her pockets for any reaming ammo. She was carrying only three pellets.

"You mean those?" She said while putting the pellets on the counter.

"Hooo…so this what everyone been asking for? Those don't look that complicated."

"What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"Knowing that something so small could be as essential for them." The old man examined meticulously by comparing weight, shape, and the mineral those are made of. "Yes, I can see it now."

"Ummm, I'm kind of lost of what are you referring to." The girl scratched her head while trying to understand what Blacksmith was interested in.

"With the right time and tools, I might be able to produce some of this for you."

"T-That sounds fantastic! I have been running low anyway. How long do you think is going to take?"

"I can't say for sure, maybe a week or so. I need to explain my apprentice about this." He handed the two pellets back to Grimm Slayer. "Even if I'm not really into guns like you, I shouldn't forfeit you the resources to fight, am I?"

"Of course not. It's always nice having my local store loaded with everything to hunt Grimm." The hooded girl said gratefully.

Moments later, another person came to the store. "There's you are, Grimm Slayer." It was the Priestess with an agitated attitude.

"Hey, what's up?" The young huntress asked.

"I have been looking for you. We need you back to the Guild, now!" Priestess' behavior made Grimm Slayer worry as if something unusual was happening.

"What is the problem?"

"We have a Raid Quest!" The adventurer said with a commotion, troubled enough that Grimm Slayer was convinced enough to head to the Guild immediately. Raid Quests were always a dangerous thing because it always meant trouble on a larger scale. Both young girls ran to see everyone, hoping to get the details about their next mission.


	7. Gratitude

**Hello everyone, sorry for not updating for months since I had to take care of some personal business and the fact that I was writing for my other stories. This chapter is shorter than usual, but don't worry, I will update the next chapters and will be long ones. I hope you enjoy it.**

"Where that dolt could be?" Fencer said impatiently while crossing her arms. She, her party, and Goblin Slayer's party were waiting in one of the Guild's private rooms. Priestess went to look for Grimm Slayer as they tried to discuss important matters. Goblin Slayer wasn't present either.

"Don't worry. I'm sure she won't take it too much time." High Elf Archer said while sitting on the couch's center. The group was quiet as the Adventurers didn't want to explain yet until everyone was present.

When they saw someone opening the door, Grimm Slayer and Priestess finally arrived at the meeting.

"Excuse us for the holdup." Priestess said apologetically to everyone.

"There's no need to apologize. Now there's everyone here. We should start discussing." Lizard Priest said.

"Shouldn't we wait for Goblin Slayer, too?" Cat Ninja asked as she noted the armored guy being absent.

"This is a matter of Grimm. I doubt Beard-Cutter would care much unless goblins are mentioned." Dwarf Shaman said while scratching his beard.

"In any case, we should start explaining to all of you." High Elf Archer extended a map over the table while pointing out specific parts across the region. "Before going to the main topic, I want to ask you about how Grimm can appear aside from negative emotions."

"Well, it is both simple and difficult to explain." Fencer said while sipping her tea. "Aside from the fact that those things lack a soul, they can also appear across different points of the region. They can emerge from black pools."

"And how those black pools that could appear out of nowhere." Lizard Priest asked.

"That is something we don't know yet. No Huntsman in Remnant could give a concrete answer to their origins. They spawn in places that we can't reach them." Brawler added.

"As far as we know, they are isolated. Usually underground, abandoned structures or barren wastelands if we are lucky." Grimm Slayer followed with another piece of information.

"I see…" High Elf Archer started to finally understand a little more from the info while Lizard Priest took notes of it. "The reason for asking is because we got finally from what appears a location from one of those pools." She started to point out at the map.

"Are you serious?" Fencer was amazed by the info.

"Yeah, they came from an abandoned castle not far from here." Dwarf Shaman pointed out. "From what we inspected from a safe distance, some of the Grimm decided not to wander far from the black pool. Their behavior was similar to hounds protecting their territory."

"And thus, we must be precautious before launching an attack against the castle." Lizard Priest started looking at the party of Huntresses directly on the eyes. "As you might expect, we are going to need the help of your friends to accomplish this task. We need a limit of three parties before adventuring ourselves into unchartered territory."

"I'm sure Paladin and his party will help us without hesitation." The hooded girl stood up from her chair while radiating positive energy inside the room. "Alright! Let's head to the castle and exterminate all Grimm!"

"Yeah!" Ninja and Brawler shouted alongside as if they were ready.

"H-Hold on a second!" Fencer, on the other hand, pulled Grimm Slayer's cape, which forced her to sit again. "You barely survived last night! Do you truly expect to launch yourself into danger again without preparing first?"

"Better listen to the Ice Queen." Dwarf Shaman said mockingly to the sophisticated girl.

"Hey!" She replied by giving a cold glare.

"We appreciate your determination, but we just returned today as well." Lizard Priest said while starting to pray. "We need to get ourselves supplies, your friends, some rest, and sweet, sweet nectar."

"Nectar?" Brawler asked.

"He is referring to cheese." Priestess replied to the blond huntress.

"Why cheese, though?" Ninja was confused as well.

"You will see once we get something to eat first." High Elf chuckled.

"I never expected to be agreed with you, Long-Ears. No Adventurer or Huntsman should fight with an empty stomach." Dwarf started laughing as he stood up and left the room.

"I suppose we can start discussing our plan of attack tonight." Lizard Priest left the room as well. He looked oddly excited while sticking his tongue out.

"Oh well, I guess we will see you later." High Elf Archer grabbed the map and followed the Adventurers.

"W-Wait a second." Grimm Slayer called her out. "Shouldn't we tell this to Goblin Slayer as well?"

"I guess so, but it won't be easy to convince him since there are no goblins involved."

"I will try to talk to him too." Priestess said with reassurance. The Huntresses started to leave the room one after the other. The hooded girl tried to think of how she could approach the matter to Goblin Slayer. "Want to go somewhere in the meanwhile?" She asked Grimm Slayer.

"Sure. I might need some exercises after that long nap." The hooded girl laughed it off as they left the place.

The day looked peaceful despite the emergency they had at the meeting moments ago. One could wonder for how long thing could be like that before the Forces of Grimm would approach to that town or any other on an imminent attack. It was good that the adventurers are making progress in that matter, but would it be too much for herself?

Priestess noticed how quiet the huntress was at the moment which found it odd. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing at all. What makes you say that?" Grimm Slayer awkwardly laughed.

"It is about Goblin Slayer? Don't blame you."

"No, no, no, no… maybe?" It was useless to be in denial. The hooded girl sighed. "You know, I forgot to ask what happened last night. I remember about the Goblin Champion and nothing else onwards."

"Oh. So far from what your sister told me: Goblin Slayer saved you from being eating while he and your sister defeat it. I didn't see them when that happened, but I suppose it was brutal as I saw both of them covered in blood." Priestess story was quite long, but that left a big impression on Grimm Slayer.

"So, he and sis saved me, huh? I don't know what to think about it…" She gave a weak smile. Both girls stopped walking to sit on a bench. They started looking at the people passing by at the street. Grimm Slayer began to look to a pair of children playing, with what appeared the oldest of the two helping the other. "You know. No matter how much I get older or trying to be stronger, sis is always helping me to get out of trouble."

"And you think it is a bad thing?" Priestess asked.

"In a way, yes. It was enough that my family are very overprotective with me. You might think this is childish to think, but I always wanted to be like the heroes from the bedtime stories, never the damsel in distress." Grimm Slayer's looked even more disappointed than before. "I'll be honest, knowing that Goblin Slayer also had to save me, I don't know how to repay him."

"I feel the same." Priestess commented as she clenched both of her fists while looking down. "It is odd to think about it, but no matter how many times I follow him or save his life, I feel that I might never repay him in the future." She began looking at the sky, trying to smile. "But I don't mind though. I'm really glad of meeting him."

There was no doubt that the young adventurer's voice was full gratitude and devotion towards the armored guy. Grimm Slayer knew too that she should be the same towards Furious Brawler. Looking for each other backs not because family but as a team. Her, Fencer, Ninja, and Paladin's party are all the family she had while away from home.

The hooded girl stood up with determined eyes; fired up as she knew that she won't fall back like last night. "Alright, now I know what to do." She said with her usual upbeat mood.

"Do you? And what is it?" As Priestess asked Grimm Slayer. Before the Huntress could say anything else, they started hearing a faint sound, as if someone's stomach was growling.

"Hehehe… sorry." It was Grimm Slayer. "I didn't take a proper breakfast."

"I'm hungry too. I heard that they are serving House Stew at the Guild Tavern."

"That sounds great. Let's go!" Both girls decided to get back with everyone else. While walking down the street, they heard heavy footsteps approaching from behind. The sound of metal and leather clashing with each other to the point that became louder, yet familiar for the Priestess.

"Goblin Slayer!" She shouted.

"Hey." He replied with his soft, monotonous voice.

"Where you been?" Grimm Slayer asked.

"I went to Blacksmith to repair my equipment and to get my special order."

"Special order?" Priestess rose an eyebrow. Goblin Slayer showed a weird-looking knife that the blade looked like a hook or ax. "What exactly is that?"

"Ohhhhh!?" Grimm Slayer, on the other hand, looked impressed of its appearance. "Is that a mambele!?"

"You know about it?" The armored guy said.

"This kind of weapon is very popular at Vale. Very hard to master but awesome once you can pull unseen stunts with it." She began talking very fast, almost hard to follow due to her excitement. "Oops, sorry, I got carried away."

"Don't worry." Priestess chuckled. "Oh, I almost forgot. You missed an important meeting about the Raid Quest."

"Does involve goblins?" Goblin Slayer asked, which didn't surprise any of the girls.

"No, but we are going to exterminate Grimm at an abandoned castle. Would you like to help us with that?" Grimm Slayer said with an embarrassed look.

"Okay."

"I knew that you wouldn't accept it unless… huh!?" Goblin Slayer's blunt response was something that caught Priestess off-guard. "R-Really!?"

"Yes."

"B-But how so!? I thought you wouldn't care about Grimm!"

"Why not?"

"Well, because those aren't goblins."

"So?"

"I think we are kind of going in circles." Grimm Slayer interjected before the conversation would drag between the adventurers. "What's the reason you easily agreed to help us even if goblins aren't involved?"

"Goblins are using Grimm. Anything that makes the goblins stronger I won't let them take the chance." The armored guy spoke with a straightforward explanation.

"That sounds… reasonable." The hooded girl commented.

"I can't deny it. Things will go worse unless we take care of that Grimm nest soon." Priestess said as she started analyzing on the possible outcomes.

"In any case, thank you so much on agreeing to this request, Goblin Slayer."

"No problem." He replied

"Now, let's go already because I'm starving." Grimm Slayer went ahead of the adventurers with a radiant smile.

"But I already ate." Goblin Slayer said.

"At least go with us to see everyone." Priestess pulled his arm while dragging him to the Guild.

All of them went to the pointed place for a nice meal and relax for the day because tomorrow morning, both Huntsmen and Adventurers will head to the depths where those foul creatures reside. No one could say with certainty of what kind of threat the Grimm would impose in that place. As for now, a long battle awaits them.


	8. Raid to the Castle

**This chapter shouldn't take me longer than expected, but don't worry, I'm always trying to make corrections and making sure things go smoothly. I don't know how much it will take me for the next chapter, but hopefully sooner since I was busy with my home, my other story and RTX.**

**I hope you like this chapter.**

* * *

"Why we had to wake up so early?" Spearman yawned as he walked among the other parties. "Knowing that we would go to assault the abandoned castle minus well arrive at the last minute for dramatic purpose."

"This isn't the time to complain already." Paladin berated him as he walked next to him. "Besides, Guild Girl explained to us last night when we accepted this."

"I… didn't listen."

"Come on! Seriously!?" Paladin facepalmed.

"Would you stop already!? We are almost there." Fencer said to both as she accommodated her ponytail. "Are we almost there, right?" She asked High Elf Archer, who she was leading everyone.

"That guy told us that he would be waiting for us at the cliff."

"And he is a Huntsman. Did he tell you his name?"

"No, but the most I could tell is that he looked… odd." Like the way how High Elf described, Fencer tried to recall who might be. It was hard as a lot of Huntsmen weren't precisely normal at any degree.

Fifteen people walked through the woods. The trip from the town was long and noisy as everyone couldn't stop talking among themselves. They were getting closer when the woods were no longer on their way, being able to see the sky ahead of them.

"Is this the place?" Grimm Slayer asked as everyone in the group looked at the cliff.

"Indeed is, but it seems that our peculiar ally isn't seen anywhere." Lizard Priest commented while approaching further to see the abandoned castle.

"Probably he still fighting off Grimm around the area or something." Dwarf Shaman commented as he scratched his beard.

"Better take a look for yourselves." High Elf Archer told everyone. The group took a look at how the place was all about. There were three intact towers, and the fourth one was already down. The walls protecting the castle were tall that might require a fifty feet ladder to climb on. There was one single entrance, but there were a couple of holes and windows that might find it useful for the group. The courtyard was more extensive than anyone can see without chances of hiding.

The place was fortified from top to bottom. However, something seemed off for most members of the group.

"What those Beowolves are doing?" Cat Ninja asked.

"Roaming the courtyard like guard dogs." Javeline Warrior commented as she looked carefully. "But the gate isn't that strong. They could easily destroy it to head out."

"What's the hold up for them?" Spearman said impatiently.

"We don't have enough information about their patterns and how many are there. We hoped that Huntsman could tell us." Dwarf Shaman commented.

"Where that guy could be?" High Elf mumbled.

As the group focused on the castle, Goblin Slayer walked at the cliff's edge. As he tried to think on an approach against those creatures, he stumbled to a piece of paper under a small rock. He looked at the ground and crouched to inspect the paper.

"Did you find something, Goblin Slayer?" Priestess asked as he started reading in silence. She decided to read alongside him to see what was all about. The further they read the note, the more surprising it became that Priestess' pupils shrunk.

"What are you reading, Orcbolg?" High Elf asked.

"You should read this, it is important." Priestess handed the note to her companions. Lizard Priest grabbed it carefully with his claws while the other two read it. Their reactions weren't that great.

_Hello friends, as you are reading this at the moment, you should know that I won't be with you as I get caught up with more Grimm trying to leave the area. As I have this much of time, I decided to leave this note with important detail about the castle and a few updates since the last time I saw._

"Well, at least that explains his impunctuality." Dwarf Shaman commented.

"Let me continue to reading it, would you?" High Elf berated.

_First things first, and this is important: While I was hunting an Ursa, I got ambushed by Boarbatusks, and they weren't the type you could encounter in the wild, those were wearing to what appeared small harnesses as I let some of them alive because that picked my curiosity of who put them. I hid and waited for them to move. As the pack no longer felt my presence, those creatures headed to the direction where the castle was. I wished things weren't that complicated as I discovered something at the end of the destination. _

_There were creatures known as goblins that took over the castle._

"You must be kidding me!" High Elf yelled.

_They acted organized, using the Grimm as their pets and giving equipment as if they were preparing for war. I couldn't understand how they were able to tame Grimm; it was definitely impossible ever to be someone or something having the capacity of that without getting their heads chopped. I wish I could tell how many are in the castle and I can't identify individually._

_One thing for sure, since they don't come out much at day, I hope you could take care of it before the next morning. They have both the west and east walls being guarded against outside, but they are hiding as well. I suggest you to not only deal with them but also sneak into the castle and look for the black pool. I still couldn't get inside the castle by myself yet, so anything beyond that will be on your own. I will join you once I get the chance. Good luck, everyone._

The note ended. That left the adventures with so much contemplation about the situation. Not only couldn't get more info about what kind of Grimm they will deal but goblins getting involved and taming those creatures.

"That can't be good." Lizard Priest commented.

"Quite an understatement, Scaly." Dwarf Shaman sighed.

"Seriously, is there a single time where we will ever not deal with goblins at some point!?" High Elf groaned. They began passing the note to everyone to see the crucial details.

"So, it is happening again." Brawler frowned while cracking her knuckles.

"Wait, what do you mean again? You already encountered goblins taming Grimm, and you didn't tell us beforehand!?" High Elf yelled.

"Yeah, sorry if we forgot to mention that since everything happened and we thought it would be a one-time-only occurrence." Grimm Slayer said as she rubbed the back of her head.

"In any case, since we don't have enough info aside of the fact their guarding patterns. We should come up with a plan of attack." Everyone formed a circle on Priestess' suggestion.

Their plan was simple. They will form three teams that will have a specific task for each one: Infiltration team will get into the castle and destroy the black pool somewhere. Scouting team will look for any Grimm outside the walls and hoping more won't appear from the woods. Finally, the Assault team was simple as they would attack the front gate and acting as a decoy while the Infiltration team does their job.

They had to analyze their options, their abilities, and what use they could get. Infiltration team had Goblin Slayer, Grimm Slayer, Cat Ninja, Dwarf Shaman, and Priestess. Scouting team members were High Elf Archer, Elemental Fencer, Knife Ranger, and Javelin Warrior up to the task. Assault team got Spearman, Shield Paladin, Witch, Lizard Priest, Hammer Valkyrie, and Furious Brawler for the heavy work.

"Does everyone know exactly what will do?" High Elf asked the group.

"Why can't we just go to the front gate and butt our way through? That could be much easier than dividing ourselves." Spearman complained.

"If we do that, that might alert both of those creatures. We will get cornered in no time." Goblin Slayer explained.

"That is why we have different teams. That might give us better chances if things go wrong." Paladin pointed out as he looked at his bag with potions.

"We are dealing with goblins as well; we have to wait until the sun goes down." Goblin Slayer sat while looking at the castle. "We should know which kinds of goblins and their numbers are before starting. That includes Grimm."

"Sir Goblin Slayer has a point. We can prepare ourselves first." Lizard Priest said.

"In that case, I will get a heads up while you wait here." High Elf Archer pulled her bow and arrow out as she was ready for anything.

"Don't you want help to scout the area? I can help you to hide from Grimm." Ranger offered to assist.

"Can you do that?"

"As long you are on my close, I can mask our presence."

"That might good since we are not going to kill Grimm just yet. I don't want to attract trouble before we start."

"It is not going to take too much, right?" Valkyrie looked worried about the quiet guy.

"We will do some recon. It won't take us too long, hopefully." Ranger gave a reassuring smile to her. She only replied with a tight hug that almost couldn't let him breathe. "Valkyrie… please…"

"Alright, just let him go." Warrior said to the energetic girl. She released him before he and High Elf headed back to the woods.

"So… we wait… until dusk?" Witch asked.

"That is the plan." Goblin Slayer replied.

"Well, since we are not going to do much. I will take a nap before then." Spearman walked towards a tree and put his weapon down. He sat and lied against the tree as he closed his eyes. Witch followed him and sat next to him while smoking under the same tree.

"Everyone, since we didn't get breakfast before leaving town, Priestess and I prepared sandwiches for everyone." Grimm Slayer said as she lifted a basket full of food. Both girls began sharing the food one by one while checking their equipment. Lizard Priest got curious of the food.

"What is this 'sandwich' you are giving?" The reptilian asked.

"It is an easy-to-make meal that you put slices of ham, lettuce, tomato, and cheese between pieces of bread." Grimm Slayer explanation was enough to make Lizard Priest droll. Especially when she mentioned ham and cheese on the food. He took the first bite to it, and the results were as one might expect.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!"

"H-Hey! Is something wrong!?" Fencer jumped out of surprise.

"You might want to excuse him. Eating new food might give him some 'enlightenment' about it." Dwarf Shaman took a sip of his fire wine.

"Could you tell him not to do that? I almost got a heart attack."

"I'm glad he like it." Grimm Slayer smiled as she was almost done sharing the food. She approached Goblin Slayer for another sandwich on the basket. "Here, you should taste it too." The hooded girl handed it to him.

"Thanks." He started to bite the sandwich. Grimm Slayer noticed that he didn't take off his helmet. No one couldn't explain how he could do that. "Is there something else?" He saw Grimm Slayer couldn't stop staring at him.

"N-Nothing!" She focused her sight at the castle. She looked carefully. Grimm Slayer sat next to the armored guy while looking at the castle too. "Hey, Goblin Slayer. May ask you something?"

"Okay." He said with his usual dull tone.

"How long you been killing goblins?"

"As much as I can remember."

"And why you are killing only goblins? Why not other creatures?"

"It is personal."

"How so?"

"…" Goblin Slayer didn't say anything else to the hooded girl. Even if she couldn't see his face, she felt that he was giving the cold shoulder. What did the goblins do to him? Why so vengeful towards those creatures? It wasn't so hard to see how dangerous they were but couldn't get an answer from him.

"Sorry for asking." Grimm Slayer stood up and left him alone before things could become awkward between them. She decided to sit next to Priestess and listen to everyone's conversations. She remained quiet.

"So, tell me, who's that your people don't visit Remnant?" Paladin asked Lizard Priest.

"Same thing as Faunus and Padfoot people. They don't like them." Ninja commented.

"Indeed. You can say that Remnant isn't the most tolerable when it comes to other races." Lizard Priest said as he was finishing his sandwich. "My people and the Faunus used to be in friendly terms until recent years that we strayed away from each other."

"What happened?" Priestess asked.

"The White Fang." Ninja said with a grimace. "That's what happened."

"White Fang?"

"An extremist group formed by both Faunus and Padfoot people that wanted equality in Remnant. It started as a pacifist group by doing protests, but the results weren't satisfactory enough and started to use violence." Cat Ninja eyes turned away from the group, looking ashamed.

"I mean, Remnant as a whole isn't fully racist with them. Some kingdoms accept them for the most part." Brawler said.

"Kingdom of Atlas, however, is a different story." Fencer said with the same expression as Ninja's.

"Is Atlas that bad?" Priestess asked.

"Probably more." Fencer put her spellbook away. "Trust me. I'm from there."

"Yeah, good thing she got over her racist phase." Brawler said with a teasing tone.

"I wasn't racist!" The sophisticated girl yelled.

"Not anymore."

"Isn't that cute?" The banter between the Huntresses made Dwarf Shaman laugh. "Well, people tend to change with time."

"I couldn't agree more." Lizard Priest said as he started to take meditation pose, praying for his ancestors.

The rest of the group tried to let some of the time fly, probably hours. They started to lose track on time as some of the Huntsmen and Adventurers were playing various games such as dices or cards. Others kept checking their equipment and potions before the battle. Spearman kept sleeping while Witch smoked and observed the rest. Her face didn't change much which some of the Huntresses found it unsettling. Javelin Warrior, on the other hand, didn't mind as to how quiet she was.

"How's he feeling?" The redhead asked.

"Sleeping… as usual." She replied with her usual lowkey voice.

"Does he always do that?"

"He trained… all night." Witch put her smoking pipe away for a brief moment as she started to eat the sandwich that Priestess and Grimm Slayer shared to everyone.

The day was passing fast, and they were starting to get bored of the situation as they didn't expect to hold up before beginning with the Raid Quest. They waited for High Elf Archer and Knife Ranger to return from scouting the area.

"Are they going to be fine by themselves?" Priestess asked.

"You shouldn't be worried. Nothing can't catch Ranger off guard." Warrior explained.

"Unless you are her." Paladin commented off-handily as he pointed out at Valkyrie, which prompted that Huntress to laugh mischievously.

"With Long-Ears being around, she can at least get an advantage with her surroundings." Dwarf Shaman was relaxing next to a rock while enjoying his fire wine. A few minutes later, as everyone was already comfy with the day, they started to hear noises coming between the bushes. Some of them drew their weapons while taking a cautious stance.

Spearman woke up and grabbed his weapon while carefully aiming towards those bushes. He tried to approach them by slowly walking and getting ready to make a move. He charged his weapon for a powerful strike.

"Hold on! It's us!" It was Ranger who got both arms on the air.

"Man, you got us a good scare." Spearman lowered his weapon in relief.

"We got something that you might like to hear." High Elf Archer appeared right behind Ranger.

"Did you discover anything new?" Fencer asked as the good Archer began to extend the map while using a pin to mark a point of interest.

"This is our biggest chance." She smirked as everyone gathered around to check the map. Their eyes couldn't stop looking at the new details that were added from the scouting. Only one point was something that Goblin Slayer got interested as he noticed how useful it might be for Infiltration team.

"What do you think?" Grimm Slayer asked the armored guy.

"It might work." Goblin Slayer looked at the sky as the sun was getting into position.

"Is everyone ready? Let's get started!" High Elf Archer yelled with enthusiasm as the rest of the group began to get their weapons ready for the plan. They knew exactly what to do; all they needed was enough courage. It would be all or nothing.


	9. Raid to the Castle II

**Hi everyone, sorry for no updates in a long time. I started with my classes at college again and wanted to focus first before I could write more chapters. Also, with all honesty, I got a problem with writer's block about this chapter or writing in general. I don't know when I will get the next chapter, but I hope it doesn't take me more time than this one. I appreciate your patience and I promise the next chapter will be longer.**

* * *

It was a quiet night as some of the Beowolves were roaming between the woods. Those creatures looked for anything with vicious eyes. The only sound around were crickets, owls, and other nocturnal critters residing in the area. Grimm would ignore animals; it is never stated for what reason those monsters would attack only people instead. One could wonder if that Grimm wouldn't harm nature itself as if there's some respect towards the cycle of life and death.

Why they attack humans? Where they come from? What's their purpose of existing? Those were questions that some of the Huntsmen's minds through the years. As for the Adventurers, they couldn't still grasp about their nature.

It wouldn't matter much as one could expect it. As soon one Beowolf stopped while trying to sniff its surroundings, an arrow flew between the trees. It headed towards the creature's left at a tremendous speed similar to lightning. The Beowolf unleashed a furious roar as the arrow hit him, blinding him. That didn't kill him, but it didn't take too long before a javelin pierced its throat, silencing it.

"I got this!" Warrior said High Elf Archer as she beheaded the Grimm.

"Nice Work. I guess my arrows can distract them while you finish them up." Elf complimented at the redhead Huntress.

"As long we keep silent, it will be easy to ambush some them." Warrior said as she passed Archer's arrow from the Beowolf's decapitated head. "I hope everyone is doing okay."

"Knowing the others, I shouldn't be worried."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, knowing how unpredictable Orcblog is when it comes to his actions, always yells results."

"I heard of some stories about him around the town. While I don't know him personally, he definitely looks relievable." High Elf Archer sighed on Warrior's comment about the armored guy. Little she knew what kind of person Goblin Slayer was for the most part. In an instant, as if death was approaching, the redhead Huntress reacted by moving around the High Elf while taking action. "Behind you!" Warrior shouted as sparks went flying in front of her shield.

Unexpectedly, another Beowolf tried to attack them by surprise. The Adventurer didn't hear it beforehand. Nothing should catch her by surprise, but such creatures were unpredictable. No sound, no breathe, only their dreadful presence was something that Huntsmen trained to detect them. Only Warrior was able to notice the Grimm before it could attack.

Javelin Warrior bashed the Beowolf's head with her shield to distract before trying to slice its head. The creature blocked the blow with its claws. They struggled to overcome the other, but Warrior was on a disadvantageous position where her head could be eaten any time.

"I got you covered!" The fearless Elf went to aid the Huntress by shooting two arrows at the same time. She aimed for the eyes, hoping to blind them and letting Warrior to counterattack. Only one arrow landed on the left eye while the second one at its throat. It was a fatal shot, but not enough to kill it. High Elf's action was enough for Warrior to do a backflip kick and distance herself from the Grimm.

Without hesitation, the redhead Huntress threw her shield like a projectile. The Beowolf ducked, making the shield miss its target. However, it wasn't over as it bounced against the trees until hitting the creature from behind its neck.

The moment was perfect, as soon as the Grimm opened its mouth, High Elf Archer used one more arrow to shot it at its mouth. The formation allowed of how it pierced through by forming a cross where the Beowolf stopped breathing. It fell to the ground as black smoke started emitting from its corpse.

Even if they were able to kill it, more were coming on their way.

Somewhere else in the woods, Elemental Fencer was dealing with an Ursa Grimm by shooting fire projectiles. She tried her best not to use too much of her magic against those monsters. She jumped over it while trying it slice with her rapier. The damage on the Ursa was minimal. It felt her attacks as mosquito bites.

Over the trees, Knife Ranger jumped on it while grabbing the spikes on its back. The Grimm reacted violently as it tried to get the Huntsman off. As a good distraction, Fencer started stabbing the Grimm on the belly.

"Thanks for the help." She complimented Ranger.

"No problem. We just need to keep them away from the castle." He said as he pulled out his weapon.

"This is going to take us a while, but I hope the others are done dealing with them." Fencer said as she continued to look for more Grimm on the woods. Ranger went in the opposite direction. So far, the Scouting team is doing their best of avoiding confrontation while drawing Grimm away from the castle.

The other two teams, on the other hand, had many difficult tasks.

* * *

"Alright, bring it on!" Spearman shouted as he pierced some Boarbatusks that charged towards him and the Assault team.

"Here I go!" Valkyrie swung her hammer to some of the Grimm around her. She gave a large grin every time she smashed one of those creatures. Unfortunately, Grimm wasn't the only thing on the front garden.

"I'm not done with you!" Furious Brawler yelled as Lizard Priest, and she was fighting two Hobgoblins. The blond Huntress dodged the attacks while kicking on blind spots. Lizard Priest used a blade made of bone to defend himself against those brutish goblins. He withstood a lot of the attacks until he countered by chopping on the Hobgoblin's left arm.

Lizard Priest lifted the hideous being to throw it towards the other Hobgoblin which Brawler was dealing with. She noticed it and moved of the way while hitting it on the back to the point of breaking its back. Both of them clashed as Brawler's fists started to get on fire before delivering a fatal blow on them.

The punch was enough to pierce both opponents while also setting them on fire from inside.

"Impressive, Miss Brawler." Lizard Priest complimented.

"No problem. You aren't bad, either." She said with a smirk.

Paladin took a defensive position as he waited for some Beowolves to attack him. He started bashing some of them with the shield while slicing them. He started to get surrounded as he didn't pay attention to his back. He rolled on the ground to free himself. Unfortunately, he didn't see another Grimm charging on his way. The distance was too short to react appropriately. Is it over for him? Maybe not.

"_Vines_…" Witch whispered as she hit the ground with her staff. The field started to shatter as vines emerged while tangling the Grimm. Paladin got lucky as the calm lady saved him on the niche of time. He took his sword with a firm grip and swung at the trapped Grimm, making another head rolling to the ground.

"Thank you!" Paladin waved his hand. Witch nodded as she kept casting spells to the rest of those creatures.

The situation was controlled as both Grimm and Goblins approached the area. The Assault team was able to maintain their positions as every single enemy was able to die by a few hits. They barely needed healing or a break on the situation. They felt confident enough to keep going until the next part of the plan.

"Alright, how long do we keep fighting those things!?" Spearman asked with an annoyed look.

"Long enough until the Infiltration team is done." Lizard Priest said while still busy slicing Beowolves on his side.

"Are you kidding me!? And how are we supposed to know when they are done!?" Before Spearman could get an answer, everyone started hearing strange noises coming inside the castle. Sounded crude as if pieces of wood were falling apart.

From the shadows, they saw four Boarbatusks pulling two improvised chariots carrying ten goblins, five on each, as they went to full speed. Some of the goblins were trying to shoot arrows at the party while going in circles. Sometimes, they tried to get closer to one of the Adventurers or Huntsmen while using lances, axes, or short sword by using 'hit and run' tactics.

Spearman tried to go after one them, but the other tried to attack him from the back. Paladin shielded him before they could barely scratch him. Brawler and Lizard Priest tried to stop the chariots by standing on the way to attack them head-on. Unfortunately, they moved out of the way with ease despite how heavy they appear. Witch tried to use her vines spell again to stop them, but it proved to be difficult due to their unpredictable patterns.

"Stop moving!" Valkyrie was impatient among the rest since she tried to stop them but couldn't land a single hit.

"Any ideas? They won't stop moving!" Brawler asked as her short temper started to get the best of her.

"Allow me to aid you." Lizard Priest said with confidence. He reached his pockets to look for what appeared as fragment bones. He spread them on the ground, almost to the center where the enemies were roaming in circles. Quietly, he began worshipping to his ancestors as he focused his energy on the bones.

On the spot, those shards were glowing with light while growing and changing form. The young Huntsmen were amazed by such power the reptilian Adventurer was using. With enough patience, he succeeded in taking those goblins by surprise. A skeleton merged from the ground while destroying the chariot underneath. "Shall my fury strike upon them." He said while commanding the summoned skeleton to single-handedly ravaging the goblins.

"Way to go!" Brawler smiled due to the surprise of extra help. However, she noticed some of the loosed Boarbatuskes tried to charge against Lizard Priest. "Watch out!" She ran towards him before the Grimm could have the chance of moving. She was able to take a guarding stance while covering his back. Those creatures were done charging and began rolling with all their strength. Both Boarbatusks strike, but Brawler blocked from left to right and countered with a kick, launching them away.

The attack was enough to make the Boarbatusks' trajectory change and crash against the second chariot. The table turned on their favor as Valkyrie and Spearman attacked from above, crushing the goblins before those vile creatures could have time to react. Witch burned the Grimm into ashes while Paladin stabbed one of them. They were able to withstand that wave, but they knew very well that nothing is over.

"More are coming." Paladin sighed as everyone started to look exhausted.

"I guess we have no choice." Spearman changed weapon for a more powerful one for the incoming horde.

The Assault team was getting ready, but Brawler started to feel worried since she couldn't stop thinking about her younger sister. She doesn't know precisely how Grimm Slayer's team is doing at the moment. Although, she shouldn't feel that way since Goblin Slayer is leading the Infiltration team. "I hope there are safe…" Furious Brawler muttered as she set her gauntlets on fire before charging against the Grimm horde.


	10. Raid to the Castle III

**Hello, everyone. It's been months since my last update. I know I kept you all waiting, but I had some priorities that couldn't let me finish this chapter. I hope the next one doesn't take too long. Enjoy.**

* * *

Underneath the ground, a torch illuminated a dark moldy tunnel with small space that no sane adventurer would dare to crawl through there. However, that is precisely why someone, as Goblin Slayer and his Infiltration team, would try to go there despite the foreboding environment. The group saw it as a long walk from where they went when High Elf Archer mentioned the place. None of them were eager for the idea.

"Watch your step, ladies. I started to get the chills from this place." Dwarf Shaman said as he was behind the group. Goblin Slayer was in the middle holding the torch while Cat Ninja went in front of everyone with her sheathed sword at hand.

"Any goblin's noises yet?" The armored guy asked.

"Nothing, it doesn't sound that they are here." The Faunus replied while both ears twitched. The only sounds were drops echoing as they drop.

The group walked for 10 minutes without stopping, and they could feel the coldness between the concrete—all but one. Priestess felt uncomfortable on this tight tunnel, dark and humid brought bitter memories they further they went. Among the group, Grimm Slayer noticed her behavior.

"Are you alright?" The hooded girl asked as she touched Priestess' shoulder.

"Huh? Oh… I'm… I'm fine." The young Adventurer said while looking away.

"Are you? You seem pale when we got here."

"I… I started to dislike going through such places ever since I became an adventurer." Priestess took a deep breath while holding tears. "Sorry if that worries you. I can still go on." She tried to give an ensured smile. Grimm Slayer nodded while Cat Ninja stopped, making the whole group stay on their positions.

"Got something, lady?" Dwarf Shaman asked.

"I heard something ahead. Put that torch down." Goblin Slayer followed her instructions as all of them crouched and didn't move a single muscle. They were in darkness, which they decided to be not far from each other for good measure. The Faunus focused her eyes and begin to see the tunnel as day. There was nothing, but she could still hear noises. "I will check it out." Cat Ninja whispered.

"Be careful." Grimm Slayer whispered. Goblin Slayer pulled out an old bow and arrow in case. Despite not being able to see through the darkness, the armored guy could still perceive what was ahead and not cause friendly fire.

"I wonder how long this tunnel is." Priestess whispered. "It seems to no end."

"I assume whoever ordered to build this structure was either paranoid or simply likes labyrinths." Dwarf Shaman scoffed.

As they kept waiting for anything to happen, they heard a whistle from ahead. "Everyone come over here!" Cat Ninja called the group, which they advanced with enough security as they wouldn't need to be quiet fort eh moment.

"Did you discover anything?" Grimm Slayer asked until Cat Ninja moved a little while using a match to illuminate the area.

With the light, the group noticed they reached a dead-end.

"Well, that's not a good thing." Dwarf Shaman said as he scratched his beard. "I should've asked Long-Ears first before going down here."

"But that's odd… why this tunnel would exist if there's no other exit?" Priestess wondered while looking at the tunnel carefully until she focused at Goblin Slayer. "What do you think of this?"

The armored guy didn't reply as he stood still, slowly turning his head around from all directions. He started tapping on the stone between the walls, the ceiling, and the floor. The group looked at him and wondered if he found something, but he got nothing.

"Oh… I get." Grimm Slayer said as she began doing the same thing. She tapped with fast movement on her surroundings while moving forward as each block had nothing unusual.

The hooded girl reached the dead-end without any results.

"Nothing, eh? That would be too easy." Dwarf Shaman chuckled. "Don't worry. I think there's a better way." He took a small cup of his fire wine and poured it on the ground. The liquor spread between the blocks until leaving a red stain that reached far enough in the tunnel.

That is until they heard a drop echoing from behind.

The group went after the echo, and they could hear it getting louder the closer they got. "It pains me wasting such good wine, but other people's lives are more important right now."

"We will get you more when we are done." Grimm Slayer gave a pat on the Dwarf's back. Goblin Slayer pulled his dagger and pierced in-between the blocks. It got loose until it fell, leaving a huge gap.

"Is it safe to go down there?" Priestess asked as the group looked through the gap.

"There's no other way." Cat Ninja was the first to take a peek down the place by hanging upside down into the darkness. After a whole minute of carefully examining the area, she dropped and landed while bending her knees in such a calm manner. "All clear." Cat Ninja called the other as one by one, dropped inside the room.

Dwarf Shaman and Goblin Slayer followed after the Faunus, with Goblin Slayer catching Priestess from above while Grimm Slayer was appearing for last.

"What is exactly this place?" The hooded girl asked.

"Storage for wine, or at least, what used to be." Goblin Slayer commented as he reignited his torch.

"An absolute shame that there's nothing left here." Dwarf Shaman kicked some of the empty bottles out of the way. "So, how are we going to do this?"

"Well, since the Grimm pool could be further underground, then two of us need to accompany Priestess to seal it for good." Cat Ninja's explanation gave the blond girl a surprised look.

"How exactly should I do that?" She asked as her legs began to shake.

"We need someone proficient with white magic. Since Shield Paladin is busy at the moment, you are our only hope right now."

"B-But I don't have any spells for that."

"Don't worry. We got you covered." Grimm Slayer handed a magical scroll to Priestess. "This should do the work."

"What's this?" Priestess asked while holding the magical scroll with both hands.

"You could say it is a variation of the spell _Purify_, but rather than removing infections, it wipes out any demonic traces. Just don't open it until you are in front of it, this is a one-off use that requires praying to unlock the seal." Cat Ninja explained.

"Alright, so, how exactly this we do this? Going all together might be hard as we know those little green men could easily spot us." Dwarf Shaman gave a skeptical look before they started hearing footsteps from above the group. Sometimes faint, other times louder than could confuse for a tremor.

"Ummm, we might have to split up for this, though." Cat Ninja said.

"I will deal with the goblins." The armored guy said as he pulled his sword out of its shed. "You can take care of the Grimm pool."

"Are you sure of it, Beard-Cutter? You might need back up."

"I'll go." Grimm Slayer said as she got her weapon loaded and the blade sharped.

"I'll go too." Priestess said without second thoughts.

"Sorry, but you have to help us down here." The Faunus girl shook her head.

"B-But..!"

"It's alright..." The hooded girl gave a reassuring smile to Priestess. "We can handle this."

Priestess' worries were gone as she saw Grimm Slayer with such confidence that only replied with a nod. The group took their separate ways with Cat Ninja leading Dwarf Shaman and Priestess deeper below ground while Grimm Slayer and Goblin Slayer took the stair to reach the upper levels.

Priestess looked behind for a brief moment, but there was no time to waste.

They sneaked through the area to look for traces. The Creatures of Grimm weren't subtle as the claw marks those things left on their way. The group didn't need torches for the moment until they were sure of the place.

"Yuck… there's more mold in this place." Cat Ninja said with disgust.

"If you ask me, this reminds me of home." Dwarf Shaman said as he held Priestess's hand while guiding through the darkness. "I wonder what could've drawn those things and the goblins to fight together."

"That's something we hope to know too." They advanced further on the underground floor. Difficult to keep track of time when any source of light was naught. Ten minutes, twenty minutes, half an hour, or more probably passed as they went in circles. The only sound they could hear was water drops falling from the ceiling due to the humidity.

However, they felt an unnerving presence ahead, such a putrid stench that could kill any person after breathing it for a second. The group wasn't sure if to feel lucky or not as they found the place, but there were signs of life around.

The black pool was in a circular room with human bones lying nearby while a dark pillar was hanging from above. There were unusual big boulders and rocks scattered around.

"What the… Is this some sacrificial chamber of sorts?" Dwarf Shaman wasn't happy with the scenery.

"From all I can say, nothing good." Cat Ninja sighed. "Come on, let's finish this."

They slowly approached the room's center with their weapons already at hand. The solitude didn't inspire safety as they knew that they could appear from anywhere despite having only one exit. Priestess remembered such a familiar scenario.

"Something wrong, missy?" The old Adventurer asked.

"I would like both of you to look up, just in case." Priestess pulled the scroll while kneeling next to the black pool, praying to Earth Mother before reciting the paper.

They had their guard up, but nothing was coming up. Neither Grimm nor goblins were in the place.

"Tell me, my feline lass, do you believe in ghosts?" Dwarf Shaman whispered.

"I don't, why would I?" Cat Ninja looked at the older man with confusion.

"Well, in such creepy abandoned structures, you may expect hearing voices from dead people." He chuckled.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but the only thing that I could expect as ghosts are one type of Grimm."

"Oh yeah? What exactly are they?"

"They…" Cat Ninja's ears began to twitch around until spot her left, as one of the rocks started moving. "Watch out!" The Faunus reacted in the nick of time by using her unique skills to move Priestess out of the way.

The rock went flying across the room at such speed that it could seem that a catapult-launched it. Everyone was disturbed by the sudden attack, but they were still alone in the place.

"Are you two, alright?" Dwarf Shaman asked both girls.

"I'm fine. What about you?" Cat Ninja looked to Priestess.

"For now, what did attack us!?"

"I might have an idea of _what_." They stood their ground as they began to cover each other's backs while focusing on everywhere. "Stay away from rocks."

"Care to explain!? I don't see anything here." Dwarf Shaman said while carrying a few pebbles on his hand while holding his sling with the other. Another rock went flying right in front of him. "_Stone Barrier_!" A wall emerged from the ground, blocking the large projectile without issue. "Come out of there! You, invisible shmuck!"

"No use, it could be everywhere." The Faunus couldn't stop her eyes from zigzagging in an insane manner that seemed paranoiac. "Priestess, how many Miracles left for you?"

"Two, I couldn't finish my prays. Why?"

"I need you to use _Holy Light_ at the count of three." The specific instructions were clear. Cat Ninja gave the signal with her hand while covering her eyes. Dwarf Shaman did the same.

1…2…3!

"_Holy Light_!" Priestess shouted, unleashing a blinding radiance in the room. They heard something screeching nearby, which Dwarf Shaman opened his eyes while throwing a rock with his sling towards the screamer.

"Gotcha!" The old Adventurer said triumphantly. The group finally saw a specter whose body was emitting a black smoke with bones sticking out and a one-eyed mask. It seemed physically weak, but they knew better when judging physical appearances.

"What is that thing!?" Priestess asked.

"That's a Geist Grimm! Don't let it escape!" Cat Ninja threw a barrage of knives at the creature, but it flew fast with evasive maneuver until it hid underneath them. "Shot, it's gone."

"This little scoundrel been waiting for us, huh? I guess we have no choice." Dwarf Shaman started looking at his bag for anything useful. More pebbles and pieces of metal for his spells but wondered if those could work against such creature.

It didn't take too much time for them to figure out that things were going from bad to worse when every single rock started to move towards one specific point. One began to pile after another, forming a golem-like creature made of stone. On the center, the Geist's mask was sticking out, visible for the group.

It was a Petra Gigas, and it seemed furious.

"We need to kill it, or we won't let us destroy the black pool!" Cat Ninja attached a long ribbon on one of her knives. "I will distract it while you are doing applying the spell!"

"Understood!" Priestess took cover, hoping that the Grimm wouldn't see her getting close to the pool.

"I suppose that leaves me to be both the bodyguard and bait, aye? Count on it!" Dwarf Shaman began giving support to the Faunus by attacking from a farther distance with his _Stone Blast _spell. He knew that wouldn't do much damage, but it attracted the Grimm's attention.

Cat Ninja used the ribbons on her weapon to swing across the place while dodging the Petra Gigas' attacks. No matter how fast she was, the monster's size couldn't allow her to aim at its face. Despite distracting it by both sides, they couldn't reach the weak point.

"Tough fellow, ain't it?" Dwarf Shaman sighed as he was feeling exhausted. The chances to deal good damage were thin, he needed to make slower down. "_Bind_!" He used the second to last of his spells to make the Grimm stop, but only the legs. "That should buy us time."

"Got it!" From the shadows, Cat Ninja finally got close enough to slash the creature's face with an upper strike.

Or so she hoped, as the Geist jumped to another rock without breaking its Petra Gigas form. It swung the arm against the Faunus from behind, landing her a hit by surprise. A painful sensation on her back when she went literally in a place between a rock and a hard place.

"There should be a way to stop it…" Cat Ninja said still beaten on the ground. It's been probably an hour or so. They lost the notion of time by fighting a single Grimm. Only three of them against that thing could be considered a suicide.

Priestess went through the fight without letting be noticed by the Grimm. Lucky girl, her small stature gave her the advantage in mobility. She recalled some of the tips Goblin Slayer gave to her some time ago. Never thought would work as those tips which originally meant for goblins.

It was short-lived.

The Petra Gigas felt someone getting near the black pool. It started throwing rocks at the young Adventurer. With her cover already been blown, she started running away from its field of vision. The Grimm took the opportunity by disengaging its legs from the rest of its body. The torso and arms started spinning that covered a broader area that wouldn't give enough space for Priestess to dodge such a dangerous attack.

At least, not by herself.

"_Stone Wall_!" Dwarf Shaman rushed in her aid by positioning himself in front of his fellow Adventurer, but at higher risk: By putting the wall in between himself and Priestess, taking the strikes for her, and thus, breaking his right arm. The Petra Gigas bounced out away after hitting the wall. One of the arms crumbled into pieces, too small that wouldn't be able to reattach itself.

"Mr. Shaman!" Priestess yelled in horror after seeing him doing such rash action. He could've died, but it wasn't his time yet. "Are you alright?"

"Don't worry about me, just a fractured elbow." He groaned despite keeping his smile. "I guess age is finally catching me up."

"Let me heal you…"

"No."

"Huh? Why not?" Priestess asked in confusion.

"Better save the remaining miracle for something bigger. This is your chance to get rid of that pool now!" The old Adventurer pointed out as both saw the Grimm leaving the objective vulnerable. It was the opening they waited for.

She kneeled in front of the black pool, praying to Earth Mother while holding the magic scroll with both hands.

However, the Grimm wasn't done yet. It started crawling with its remaining arm towards the healer who couldn't interrupt the prayer once again. It looked desperate, almost not thinking well other than kill her before it's too late. But the creature was narrow-minded, as it forgot one crucial detail.

"Not so fast!" Cat Ninja took the Grimm by surprise as she used her ribbon to wrap it around the arm. It lost balance of its movement, forcing the Geist to stop possessing the boulder. Nothing could prevent it from catching Priestess, and it was getting close as neither Dwarf Shaman nor Cat Ninja could reach the Geist and protect the blond girl in time.

Unfortunately, the magic scroll's seal shattered.

The artifact opened by itself, liberating an intense flash that not only was brighter than _Holy Light _spell but started to turn the Geist's body into stone in midair, inch by inch. The Grimm's scream was slowly becoming silent as the light was engulfing it until nothing remained.

Not only the black pool vanished, but the creature became a statue that fell to the ground until it broke into tiny pieces. Nothing but dust remained from it.

"That was a close one." Cat Ninja said as she put her weapons away and went to help Dwarf Shaman to stand up.

"Phew, I guess my age is finally catching me up. Don't tell Long-Ears I said that, or she won't stop mocking about my appearance."

"I'm glad it's over. The only thing left is to wait for everyone done with the fight." Priestess sighed in relief. "I wonder how Goblin Slayer and Grimm Slayer are doing."

The place abruptly began to shake violently above them. They hurried of reaching the upper levels while both girls were helping Dwarf Shaman to move around. "What's with the ruckus!?" He asked.

"We must see it for ourselves." Cat Ninja said as they reached to castle's hall. On their way, they looked surprised that there weren't enemies around. It was silent, not so different from where they fought moments ago.

They went even further towards where the throne room was. Every step the group made, they looked behind in case something was following them. There was nothing.

"By the gods, what's exactly going on there!" The old Adventurer impatiently asked.

"I guess we are going to find out soon." Priestess said as she started to see some light at the end of the stairs.

The door for the throne room was slightly open, but they could see glimpses of it, including the sky. They finally reached the place, but something wasn't right. Not only there were corpses of goblins lying everywhere on the floor, but the ceiling was open, utterly destroyed as they could see the two moons up in the sky.

"Okay, now this doesn't look good. Where's Beard-Cutter and Miss Red?" Dwarf Shaman said, confused as the rest looked around the room.

"You are right… Where could they be?" As Priestess seemed worried for her companions, they heard a cry up in the sky. It was loud that could shake the land and scare the critters away. As the group looked at the sky, they saw a dark figure flying passing above the castle. Its appearance was one of a giant bird with long chains hanging on the neck.

It was a monstrous size.

"You gotta be kidding me! What is that thing!?" The older man exclaimed as Priestess was almost out of words after seeing such a creature.

"T-That's a…?" She stuttered while paralyzed with fear.

"A Nevermore." Cat Ninja looked up with solemn eyes, as she quickly recognized it in an instant.


End file.
